


Life 1: Big Brother

by JMount74



Series: The Lives and Deaths of Scott Tracy [1]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, post natal drepression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26680909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: An anthology of stories around Scott's life.Life 1: Big BrotherScott growing up, meeting new brothers along the way.
Relationships: Grandma Tracy/Grant Tracy, Jeff Tracy/Lucille Tracy
Series: The Lives and Deaths of Scott Tracy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941442
Comments: 14
Kudos: 21





	1. John

**Author's Note:**

> This will start as mainly TOS but as the series progresses TAG will come more into play.
> 
> I write Scott then John as next oldest. Also, as in TOS, John will have blonde hair and Gordon red. Grandma Tracy will initially be Ruth.

Scott can’t remember John’s birth; he wasn’t even two at the time. His parents often told him how excited he was to have a brother, and they proudly displayed the first picture of the two brothers together, Scott sitting in Jeff’s armchair propped up with cushions, beaming at the baby in his arms. Jeff often grumbled that once John had been born, Scott had no interest in anyone else, a slight exaggeration Lucy would often reply with a huge grin on her face.

It was true that before John, all Scott wanted to do was run around, play planes with Jeff or jump off things to see how far he could fly. Scott had flying in the blood it seemed – as soon as he could walk he was flying. It had not taken long for Scott to try and make himself airborne. An early and fast developer, Scott was walking and talking far sooner than either Jeff or Lucy were prepared for – although Ruth, Jeff’s mom, had not seemed surprised at all. By the time John was born he had jumped off every surface he could reach to see how far he could fly, giving both parents and grandparents several heart attacks and a few trips to the doctors. How he hadn’t broken anything yet was a miracle.

Now John was here, Scott spent almost every spare minute talking to his brother, showing his brother things (like his toys, John’s toys, and any object Scott was big enough to lift), and reading to him. Scott still ran to the door when his father came home, but now his conversation was all about John and what they had done together. Scott was making much more sense to Jeff, until he got too excited and started to babble, and it was remarkable what achievements baby Johnny could already do! Jeff would look to Lucy and she would gently remind Scott that most of that he had done, John was merely a spectator, but that didn’t matter to Scott – if he had jumped off the end of the sofa and flown for 5 minutes then so had John.

Jeff and Lucy had counted themselves as very lucky that Scott had reacted so well to having a brother. They had heard some real horror stories from friends in similar circumstances and were all but convinced that their happy toddler was going to turn into a green-eyed monster. But Scott had been captivated from the start. Lucy had lost count of the times when the house was suddenly too quiet with two very young children in, only to find John sitting on the floor staring at Scott, who was also on the floor, lying on his stomach with his head propped up on his hands staring at John. No sound, just staring at each other. It seemed John was equally as captivated with Scott. 

When John showed no signs of talking by the time he was 8 months old, Jeff and Lucy began to worry. He was ambulatory just fine, following after Scott with a vigour that suggested he was as early a developer as Scott had been. But he was not talking. So the concerned parents talked to their parents. Grant and Ruth both seemed unconcerned – Ruth saying that Jeff had been an early developer, but it wasn’t something Lucy should worry about. Lucy’s parents in England had yet to meet either boy, but they too said not to worry – after all he was still early in other areas. 

So, Jeff and Lucy decided to wait. Their parents were right. After all, some of their friends’ children didn’t start speaking until almost a year old. Lucy spoke to the children’s nurse at the doctor’s office and she soothed the worried parents by encouraging them to wait a couple more months. If John still was not talking at 10 months, then the parents could bring him in for a complete evaluation. Lucy relaxed, until Jeff wanted to ask NASA for time off in advance (just in case), but Lucy said he would jinx it. 

However, John was still not talking at 10 months. So Jeff, Lucy, Ruth, Scott and John all went to see the Child Psychologist recommended by the doctor. NASA had kept Jeff busy and the launch was rapidly approaching. By the time Jeff was free to attend the appointment, Scott was almost 30 months and John was 11 months. 

This is Scott’s earliest memory of John:

After time spent alone with Lucy and John, then observing the interaction between both boys for the rest of the morning and over lunch, they met in the doctor’s office. Jeff and Lucy sat in front of the desk with John on Jeff’s knees leaning back against his father; and Ruth sat a little way back while Scott played in the corner with the large toy aeroplane he had ‘borrowed’ from the playroom earlier.

There was a lot going on today that Scott didn’t understand, but he had been told that they were here to help John to speak so Scott was nice to the strange man. When the man had said he wanted Scott and John to play for the morning as they always did, Scott’s first thought was why couldn’t they do that at home then. Shrugging his shoulders in the way only a precocious two-and-a-half-year-old could do, he carried on as usual, picking up the toys needed for the game they were going to play, discussing each one with John and deciding what they would do. Then the two played, Scott directing and discussing and John following and doing whatever Scott said. Lunch had been nice, and he spent ages explaining to John what they were eating and how the vegetables would make him big and strong, John seeming to pay close attention.

After lunch they went to the big office. Scott had been allowed to keep the big plane he had been playing with and he sat in the play corner while the doctor spoke to his parents.  
‘I think that John is exceptionally bright, and you are right that he is early in developing everything else; I understand you said that Scott was too?’ the doctor asked. Jeff and Lucy nodded. ‘This appears to be a two-fold issue. I think that John doesn’t speak because he has nothing to say. Scott says it all for him’. Both parents stared at the doctor open-mothed. He continued ‘I also think that John might just be a little shy, maybe even a little withdrawn? He doesn’t seem to mind his family, but I noticed that he virtually ignored me.’ 

‘Are you telling me that John can talk, he just doesn’t want to?’ demanded Jeff. This all sounded ludicrous to him. He exchanged a look with Lucy. ‘And what should we do - tell Scott to stop talking so much?’ The doctor shook his head and smiled slightly. ‘No, I don’t think that would help either of them. I just think you don’t need to worry. John will talk when he feels the need to.” 

Lucy, Jeff and Ruth all admitted that they had noticed John acting a little reserved around strangers. The four adults continued discussing around John, leaving Scott sat still in the corner. There were a lot of words that Scott didn’t understand, but he wasn’t stupid. He understood when his own name was mentioned. He may not have understood everything that was said but he understood the intent. It was his fault John wasn’t talking. Scott stopped playing and sat back, silent and still.

No-one had noticed him stop playing. He was listening; if Scott was talking too much, then he would stop. And stop he did; after all, John was more important.

As Lucy strapped John in and Jeff strapped in Scott, Ruth, sitting between the two boys, sighed heavily. ‘I’m not sure that wasn’t just a waste of time, Jeff.’ She said, crossing her arms. ‘Never heard anything like it.’ Climbing in the front Jeff looked at his mother in the rear-view mirror. ‘It did seem an odd conclusion to make,’ he agreed. Glancing at John, he saw that John had fallen asleep already. Looking to Scott, it appeared that he would soon follow. It had been a long, frustrating day for all of them. 

Arriving home, Jeff took John straight up to his bed, the youngster still fast asleep. He knew John would be ready to get up in another hour or so, giving Lucy a break to put her feet up. Scott had woken up when they pulled into the drive and had gone into the lounge to the toy box. However, instead of playing as he usually would have, he started putting all the toys that had been left out from earlier away. Lucy sat on the sofa and watched, with Ruth looking on from the doorway.

‘Lucy, dear,’ she began. Lucy turned to look at her mother-in-law. Ruth had been a Godsend in so many ways. ‘You look particularly tired tonight. Shall I start dinner off?’ Lucy grinned. Ruth never just took over, she always asked. ‘Thanks Mum, I’d appreciate that. Not sure why I’m so tired today, it’s not like we did much.’ A small frown crossed her forehead. It was really quiet, and it seemed different, somehow not normal. She relaxed into the sofa as Ruth left to create dinner. Scott was quiet in the corner and Lucy found herself drifting off.

When Jeff came down a few minutes later he took up his mom’s position in the doorway. Lucy had fallen asleep on the sofa; Scott was silently reading a book in the corner and his mom was cooking. He grabbed the blanket off the chair and gently covered Lucy, quietly standing watching her doze. Scott looked up at his father and Jeff put his finger to his lips Scott nodded and carried on reading.

An hour later and dinner was ready. Ruth came and collected Scott, putting him in his special chair while Jeff woke Lucy before going up and getting John. Lucy smiled ruefully at Ruth. ‘Guess I was more tired than I realised!’ Ruth smiled. ‘It’s been a long day for all of us. Even Scotty is quieter than usual,’ she replied.

Scott looked up at the mention of his name, but he still didn’t say anything. Jeff placed John in his highchair and the family sat down to eat, the three adults chatting about the specialist they had seen and what they thought about it all. John happily chased the food around his bowl. Scott simply ate his dinner as fast as he could.

Once he had finished, Scott asked to be excused. ‘Tired Mommy, want to go to bed please.’ The three adults looked at each other in concern. Scott never went willingly to bed – and certainly never this early. Lucy beckoned Scott over. ‘What’s wrong baby, not feeling well? she asked. Placing her hand on Scott’s forehead for a couple of minutes, she said to Jeff: ‘he doesn’t seem to have a temperature.’

‘Tired, Mommy,’ Scott replied. He didn’t want to hear about how everything was his fault again. Lucy gave him a hug. ‘Alright then, give Grandma a kiss and Daddy will take you up.’ ‘Ok,’ he replied, going over to Ruth where she planted a kiss on his head. He took his dad’s hand and they left the room.

‘Is it my imagination or is Scott a lot quieter than usual?’ Lucy looked up at Ruth’s words. ‘You noticed too. Maybe he is just tired. Let’s see what he’s like tomorrow,’ she suggested. Ruth nodded. She was heading home tomorrow afternoon and had planned to take the four of them out to breakfast as a surprise from Grant, her husband. Since he couldn’t leave the farm, he had suggested this. Jeff may have temporarily put his engineering business on the back burner, entrusting his partner with it while he still worked for NASA, but the small family were not rolling in money and it was something Grant could do for them while he wasn’t able to be there physically. It would give Ruth a little longer to work out what was up with her eldest grandson – and her daughter-in-law.

The next morning was bright and sunny, with just a little chill in the air – a perfect, if unseasonable, December winter’s day. Usually Scott would have been up with the birds, but today he was still in bed when the alarm sounded in his parent’s bedroom. Jeff groaned as he reached over to turn the alarm off; then sat up yawning. ‘Wow, I can’t remember the last time it was the alarm that woke us up rather than one of the kids,’ he said, leaning over to give Lucy a kiss. She mumbled something and turned over. Jeff chuckled and got up.

Throwing on his dressing gown, he went to check on John. As per usual he found John awake, staring at the star mobile above his bed. What was unusual was there was no big brother anywhere. Scott often spent the time between his waking up and his parents getting up reading to John, but he was nowhere to be seen. ‘Come on Johnny, let’s go find your big brother,’ Jeff said, lifting John out of his bed and onto the floor. Holding his hand, they made their slow way to Scott’s room.

Scott was, in fact, awake. Having spent the last 6 months or so joining John every morning to read to him, Scott suddenly found himself at a loss. What should he do now? So he stayed in bed, hiding under the covers while his young mind tried to decide what to do. He had heard the alarm go off but stayed where he was. He heard his dad go in to John’s room but stayed under his covers. There were his father’s footsteps heading his way – Scott burrowed deeper into the blanket and curled up, back to the door so his dad wouldn’t see his face.

Jeff pushed open Scott’s bedroom door and looked in. He couldn’t see Scott, just his outline buried under the blankets and curled up. He gently called ‘Scott, you awake?’ Getting no answer, Jeff frowned but backed out of the room, pulling the door to but not closing it properly. He picked John up and gently jigged him up and down on his hip. ‘I don’t know what’s up with your big brother, but how about we get you some food and me some coffee? What do you say to that John?’ John just smiled and giggled slightly, one hand clutching his small star.

Making his way to the kitchen, Jeff was not at all surprised to see his mom there, two cups of steaming coffee ready to go. She handed one to Jeff as he placed John in his chair. ‘Thanks, Mom. Is that one for Lucy?’ Ruth nodded. ‘She up yet?’ Jeff laughed quietly. ‘Five more minutes, she said about 15 minutes ago,’ Jeff replied, putting a slice of bread in the toaster for John.

Ruth frowned. ‘Where’s Scott? It’s not like him to be missing when John’s here.’ Jeff shrugged. ‘I checked on him, he’s still asleep. Maybe yesterday was harder on him than we realised.’ Ruth shook her head. Something was definitely wrong. ‘I’ll check on him once I’ve given Lucy her coffee.’ Heading up the stairs, Ruth listened out carefully, but there was no sound from Scott’s room at all. Bypassing her grandson for the moment, Ruth knocked on Lucy’s door and entered. Lucy, however, was not in bed. She was in the bathroom, throwing up.

Putting the coffee down on the chest of drawers, Ruth headed to the en suite. Lucy was sitting on the floor next to the toilet, one arm over her eyes and a small groan escaped her. Ruth suddenly laughed out loud. ‘So that’s what’s wrong with you!’ she exclaimed. Lucy groaned again. Squinting up at her mother in law, she tried her best to glare at her. Ruth laughed again and left the room, returning moments later with the coffee.

Gratefully taking the cup, Lucy griped ‘I don’t know why you’re so happy. We weren’t planning to have another so quickly.’ Gulping down the coffee quickly, Lucy sighed to herself. They had planned to have lots of children, maybe seven or eight, but having only 18 months between Scott and John she had wanted, hoped for, a longer gap before they tried again. Oh well, c’est la vie. She squinted up at Ruth, who was still laughing to herself.

‘One down, one to go,’ was Ruth’s cryptic reply. Now she knew nothing was wrong with Lucy, she just had Scott to sort out. ‘Have you said anything to Jeff?’ Lucy shook her head. ‘I only found out for sure yesterday. I didn’t want to say anything as we were concentrating on John.’ Lucy did not look happy about things to Ruth’s trained eye. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

Lucy heaved a sigh. ‘It’s the timing. The baby will be due around the time Jeff lifts off. I had hoped that we would spend the last weeks we have together just having fun. Jeff is off for a year. He’ll miss the birth and the first months of the baby’s life. How can I tell him? He’ll be devastated.’

Ruth held out both her hands to Lucy, helping her up. ‘After breakfast, I’ll take Scott and John to the bookstore while you have a coffee and a chat with Jeff. Things will work out, you’ll see.’ Lucy smiled gratefully at Ruth. ‘Thanks, Mum. I don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes,’ she murmured.

The pair made their way out of the large bedroom, stopped outside Scott’s room. Lucy gently opened it. Scott was still hiding under the covers. Ruth stood at the door while Lucy sat on the bed. ‘Scott, honey,’ she started, reaching out to pull the covers off. Her usually happy toddler held on tight.

‘Scott, what’s the matter?’ Lucy tried again. She really didn’t want to be wrestling today, and it was unusual for Scott to still be in his own room, let alone still in bed. But Scott didn’t answer, just burrowed further into the centre of his bed. ‘Come on now Scott, Grandma is taking us out for breakfast and then she’s going to take you to the bookstore. It’s time to get ready.’ Reluctantly Scott let go of the covers.

Breakfast and a trip to the bookstore – normally Scott would be bouncing all over the place, the bookstore being one of his favourite places to visit. Instead, he mechanically climbed out of bed and quietly allowed his mom to get him ready. ‘Scott, baby,’ Lucy asked, ‘what’s wrong.’ Scott looked at his feet. He didn’t really know what to say to his mom, so he said nothing. Lucy sighed. She held out her hand and Scott took it. 

‘There you are, Scooter,’ said his dad, smiling warmly at him. But Scott didn’t feel like smiling. He gulped and looked at his feet again. The three adults now had three matching frowns. It was Ruth who spoke first, kneeling down to look Scott in the eye. ‘Honey, it don’t matter. Whatever the problem is, you can talk about it when you’re ready, ok Scott?’ Scott nodded. ‘Ok then, everyone in the car for breakfast. Scott, you need anything?’ Scott shook his head. John already had his star. They loaded into the car and drove off.

Breakfast was a strange affair, with Scott not talking and not engaging. John seemed to pick up on his brother’s demeaner and was quieter than normal too. In the end, Ruth was glad to take the boys away and leave Jeff and Lucy to talk in the little coffee shop in the corner of the mall.

Jeff looked at Lucy. God, he loved her. They had known each other for only 3 weeks when he had proposed, and she had accepted. They had married a month later and Scott had come along exactly 10 months after that. Then John, 18 months later. He leaned over and kissed Lucy. ‘So, Luce, you going to tell me what’s up with you?’ Lucy smiled. It was so like Jeff to have noticed something was up. She shifted her chair closer and grasped Jeff’s hand. ‘I have news that is both good and bad,’ she said. ‘What do you want first?’

Jeff pretended to ponder this. ‘I guess…the good news.’ Lucy flashed that smile. That special smile he had seen twice before – and he knew instantly. His face lit up. ‘You’re pregnant?’ She nodded. Jeff pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her upturned face. ‘So, what’s the bad news? I mean, nothing’s wrong is there?’ Lucy smiled. ‘No, nothing’s wrong with the baby. It’s…it’s just the timing.’ Jeff immediately sobered. He knew exactly what she meant. He was going to space for a year, with six months at base before then where they would hardly see each other. Keeping Lucy in a hug, he rested his chin on her head. ‘It’s not ideal. Maybe I should quit the mission now before we get any closer to launch.’

But Lucy was having none of it. ‘I hate that you will not be here for so long, but this is a big mission. You cannot back out now – it would stop the mission completely, and we will not be the cause. You will always regret it, even if you don’t realise it now.’ Jeff sighed. ‘But missing you giving birth and missing almost the first year of the baby’s life – I will always regret that. We need to talk this through more thoroughly than we can in a coffee shop.’

Lucy smiled at that. This was not a quick conversation and she was pleased that Jeff’s first response was to quit to be with her. However, Jeff was an experienced astronaut when they met, and Lucy had known that he would repeatedly return to space. He had gone for 6 months not long after they had got married and had returned just in time for Scott’s birth. ‘You’re right Jeff, let’s discuss this later. Shall we go and rescue your mum from Scott and John?’

While this conversation was happening, Ruth had attempted to draw Scott out of his funk. But nothing she said or tried worked. He didn’t want to play with the toys, he didn’t want a new book or toy. He just held onto his grandmother’s hand and walked around wherever she went. John held on to her other hand. Ruth had tried to leave the pair at the play centre, but Scott had refused to leave her, and John had just clung on tighter. She was so happy to see Jeff and Lucy. And judging from the huge grin on Jeff’s face, he was a very happy man.

Lucy took John in her arms and Jeff took hold of Scott’s hand. The three made their way back to the car, then back home, quietly chatting amongst themselves. John slept; Scott stared out the window. When they arrived home, Lucy took the boys inside while Ruth stayed with Jeff. ‘Lucy already told you, I see,’ her son said, fondly looking at his mom. Ruth flashed a rare smile. Laying her hand on Jeff’s arm, she replied: ‘I guessed this morning. She’s a little worried about you having to leave, but ultimately Lucy is really happy. Are you, son?’ Jeff smiled that huge grin. ‘Mom, I’m ecstatic. I mean, we have to discuss what we’re going to do for the next 20 months, but we’ll work it out. Did you get anything from Scott?’

Ruth sighed, shaking her head. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong. He wouldn’t leave my side, refused to play, refused to pick out a new toy or book. And all the time he didn’t utter a word. I’m worried, Jeff. It’s such a sudden change. I wish I wasn’t going home yet so that I could help you.’

Jeff put his hand over his mom’s. ‘I know Mom, but we’ll manage. Scott can’t keep quiet for ever, and we will get to the bottom of this. I’ll let you know. Now, if I’m to get you home on time, we better get going.’ Waving goodbye to Lucy and the children, the car pulled away.

The next three days were surreal for the young family. Scott still refused to talk and refused to play. He sat and silently read and went to bed early. He didn’t interact with John at all, and only spoke to his parents when they spoke to him. Lucy had even spoken to the doctor about this, he had said that since Scott didn’t have a temperature, a cold or an injury, to leave it five days before bringing Scott in.

In fact, it was John who eventually solved the problem. On the fourth day Scott was sitting in the corner reading as had become his new normal. Lucy was at her wit’s end. Scott didn’t seem to be ill, he just refused to do anything. Jeff was upset and John was getting more and more fractious.

John walked over to Scott and sat abruptly down in front of him. He held out his favourite star as Scott stared at John but didn’t do anything other than put his book down. Jeff and Lucy looked on, wondering what on earth was going on. John looked down at his star and back up to Scott, holding it out again. 

‘Scotty sad. Star makes me happy. Scotty take Star and be happy again’

Both Lucy and Jeff’s mouths fell open. Scott’s too, but he took the toy off John and hugged it close, tears falling. ‘Thanks, Johnny,’ was all he said. John climbed into Scott’s lap and hugged him. Jeff and Lucy rushed over and enfolded both boys into a hug. With both adults and Scott crying, John looked confused. ‘Why is everyone crying?’ he asked. Jeff and Lucy laughed, still crying. Lucy took John and Jeff took Scott onto his lap.

‘Why were you so quiet, Scott? What was wrong?’

‘The man said it was my fault John was not talking,’ Scott sobbed. Jeff closed his eyes and hugged his amazingly perceptive son tight. ‘I am so sorry Scott. I didn’t know that you had heard that. It was never your fault, never. Do you understand?’ Scott nodded.

John nodded too. ‘Not your fault,’ he repeated. He patted his big brother’s arm. ‘Love you, Scotty,’ he said, leaning over to kiss his brother’s cheek. ‘Love you too, Johnny,’ Scott replied. 

Lucy’s eyes glistened as she listened to her wonderfully bright children. She asked Scott, ‘you heard the doctor say that you talked too much, did you?’ He nodded. ‘Do you remember that the doctor also said that John simply had nothing to say?’ He nodded again. ‘Well, it seems that John has found something worth saying. So, no more worrying about this?’ ‘Ok, Mommy.’ Scott stood up, took John’s hand and the two walked over to the books. John chose a book and Scott sat down and read it. Out loud. And John joined in.

Jeff put his arm around Lucy, and they sat, still on the floor, watched their two children chatting to each other over the book. ‘Well, what do you know,’ murmured Jeff, ‘damn doctor was right. John just needed a reason to say something.’ Lucy nodded. ‘No better reason than an upset brother,’ she replied. 

From that time on, although John was always quiet and withdrawn with strangers, Scott and John chatted together, ran around the house together and played together as they had before, unless they were reading. Scott always read John a bed-time story when Jeff was absent. The only difference was when Scott was jumping and flying. John had no interest in flying and would spend that time reading, usually with his mother. Even at 18 and 36 months it was becoming clear that Scott’s interests were flying and planes whereas John’s were rapidly becoming the stars.

It was not long after that incident that Jeff and Lucy sat both their boys down and explained that they were to have a brother or sister. Scott, as before, was excited by the prospect, understanding a little more this time what being a big brother meant. John was also excited. He would get the opportunity to be a big brother too! Their enthusiasm was endearing.

Two weeks later, when Lucy was approximately 2 months along, Jeff sat both boys down on the sofa and knelt in front of them. They caught on immediately that this was a serious chat. ‘Scott, John, I want to talk to you about your Mom and the baby, ok?’ Both boys nodded. ’You know that I’m going back to work at the end of the week, right?’ Again, both nodded. ‘I’m not going to be here when the baby is born and for a while afterwards as daddy is going to the moon. I need you to promise me you will look after both Mommy and the baby while I am gone.’

‘Ok, Daddy,’ they chorused together. 

‘I need you to look after Mommy and do what she says. Mom will need more help before the baby is born as she will not be able to do what she can now. Can I rely on you, Scott, to ensure you and John do this for me?’

‘Of course, Daddy. I will look after Mommy and Johnny and Baby,’ stated Scott earnestly. ‘And I’ll look after Baby,’ added John. Jeff leaned over and ruffled both his children’s hair. ‘Let’s keep this between us three. A secret,’ Jeff winked. Both boys nodded vigorously. Nothing was more exciting than having a secret!

So, Jeff went back to NASA, secure in the knowledge that Lucy would be looked after and his boys would behave. Lucy was going to move in with Ruth and Grant before the baby was born so that his parents could help out if needed. 

Lucy had refused to let Jeff give up the opportunity to travel to the stars again, but Jeff had decided that this would be the last time. With the possibility that something on each trip could go wrong, Jeff knew that his family were more important – a fact brought home by the knowledge that he would miss almost the first year of his third child’s life. The business would suffice to give them an income, and once free of NASA he could devote himself full-time to it. Jeff was ambitious and knew his business model was sound.

They had discussed names. Lucy was adamant she was going to have another boy, Jeff secretly hoped it would be a girl. But both knew that there had not been a girl for generations in the Tracy line. Scott had said he wanted another brother, but then he had never had a sister, so he didn’t really mind. John had asked for a puppy, even though he had promised to look after the baby. 

This had caused much amusement, until the adults had realised John was serious. Scott rolled his eyes. Still precocious, with hands on his hips, he tartly explained why a brother was better than a puppy and that John would love him more. It took all of Jeff and Lucy’s control not to laugh at Scott’s reasonings (‘because I said so’). They were quickly learning that Scott did not like being laughed at. He might be a bright child with a sunny temperament, but he was fast showing a short fuse as well.

So, baby names were picked. Virgil Grissom for a boy, keeping up the tradition of the Mercury 7, and Elizabeth Ruth for a girl, both their mother’s names. And Jeff had promised that once he had returned to earth the five of them would spend time in England with Lucy’s family. Seeing how excited his oldest was at this promise, Jeff wondered if Scott wanted him back because he would miss his dad or because he would finally get to go on an aeroplane!

Lucy’s pregnancy ran very smoothly, except for one thing. She was inordinately tired. She was sure that neither of her previous pregnancies had resulted in her being this tired. But Scott and John, true to their promise, were very well behaved. It had been planned that Lucy would move in with Jeff’s parents when she was 7 months gone, giving two months to prepare. But she moved in at 3 months when Scott had innocently told Ruth during one of their frequent phone calls just how tired Mommy was and how long she was sleeping during the day.

Grant had insisted and had called three of his farm hands together and the four of them had moved the family up over the next weekend, putting the apartment up for sale. After all, they needed a bigger house too. Luckily the farm was only two hour’s drive away from the town, so it had not taken long.

A new pattern began to emerge. Scott and John would get up early and ‘help’ Grandpa feed the animals. Grant gave them the job of feeding the chickens, ducks and geese, thinking that this would be the safest job for such young children. He had started working on the farm with the same job, his grandsons were bright, very bright, and would manage to do this too.

Then the two would walk the puppy. Grant’s sheepdog had had a litter of five and they had kept one for the family secretly, believing that boys needed a dog and knowing that Jeff would not agree while they lived in a town house. John was ecstatic. After the puppy was walked came breakfast and then lessons. Even at nearly 2 and 3 years old, Lucy had started home schooling since they were so bright. They soaked up knowledge like sponges. Both showed an aptitude to Math and science; but both tackled number puzzles differently. Lucy made sure that the lessons were fun and didn’t last long.

After lunch they had what Lucy called nature time. This was often outside, learning about the plants and animals around the farm, exploring the ponds and fields around them. This also included drawing and reading outside. After living in an apartment in town, the boys revelled in the freeness of the farm, making sure that they stuck to the rules laid down by their Grandpa for their safety. Scott still loved jumped off things, so Grant had ensured Scott understood that the barns and all outside buildings were off limits to the pair, that they were to stay inside the fence around the farmhouse.

When Lucy was 8 months along, Scott had his first real accident. They had not long had lunch and Lucy was having a nap. John had decided he wanted a nap too, which had earnt a frown from Scott. He was a big boy now and didn’t want to sleep – the outside was too exciting for him. But he knew he wasn’t allowed out of sight of the house, nor was he allowed in the barn, and he had to stay inside the fence.

Scott walked around the back garden, deciding what to do. It was then that he saw the fence and the germ of an idea started to grow. He had jumped off everything indoors – the beds, the chairs, even the table (but don’t tell Grandma or Mom), the fence was higher. It was higher, so he should be able to jump further. He ran indoors and grabbed the cushions from the sofa and placed them where he thought that he would land. Then he climbed the fence. It was much taller than he was, with four bars to climb, and he climbed to the top. And jumped. And missed. 

But Scott Tracy was a big boy.

He landed awkwardly on the hard ground, having jumped over the soft landing that he had prepared. He landed on his feet, immediately falling forward onto his knees and hands. Pain shot through his arms and legs, and he rolled into a ball, cradling his left arm. He lay there for what seemed like ages. His Grandma was out, taking something to the elderly couple next door to the farm. Mom and John were asleep. Grandpa was working. So, Scott got himself up and looked himself over. Both knees were bleeding freely, his left ankle hurt, and his left arm felt odd. He gently held it in his right hand.

Scott hobbled to the back door and reached out with his right hand to open it. That was when he noticed the blood on his hand. He frowned. His right hand didn’t hurt much so why was it covered in blood? Then he looked he looked at his left arm. There was a strange lump where it was bleeding, but it didn’t hurt. How odd. Scott decided that he would sit down and wait for Grandma as he didn’t want to wake his mom or John.

He woke up suddenly to screaming. Now he hurt. All over. And he was stiff from sitting in the corner of the kitchen. He must have fallen asleep. On opening his eyes, he was confronted by Johnny, screaming. Suddenly both his mom and his Grandma were there, Johnny was crying and screaming, Mom was talking to him, Grandma was shouting out the window. Scott didn’t understand what was going on and the noise was too much.

Scott burst into tears as Grandpa rushed in. Grant took one look, threw the keys to Ruth and gently picked Scott up. Ruth opened up the doors and Lucy sat in the back. Grant handed Scott to her and Ruth helped John up beside her. Ruth sat in the front. Lucy did not take long to calm both John and Scott down. John kept stealing glances at his big brother, while Scott surprised his mom by quickly dozing off to the swaying of the car. Ruth called the clinic ahead and by the time they arrived the nurse was waiting outside with a bed on wheels. John was fascinated by the bed. Lucy gently put Scott down and he slept through it. 

The nurse frowned. He was not happy that the child was asleep. Still, at least he wasn’t screaming, as most children would be. Ruth, Grant and John stayed in the waiting room while Lucy and Scott were taken inside. The nurse busied himself around the room, collecting bits and pieces. And then he set about cleaning up Scott, starting with his knees.

At this point Scott woke up. The nurse encouraged him by saying what a big boy he was being, so Scott tried hard not to cry. It hurt though and he was shaking; and it took some time to clean up his knees. The nurse was gentle. Scott sat back and closed his eyes. ‘Hey, soldier, open them eyes for me,’ said the nurse. ‘I’m going to give you something to help with the pain, but I need you to stay awake until then, ok?’ Scott nodded. Once his knees were cleaned and some rather fetching blue plasters with planes on applied, the nurse was ready for his arm.

Grabbing an injection, the nurse explained to Lucy, and Scott, that this was going to relax him so that he didn’t feel his arm being fixed. Scott’s eyes went wide at the sight of the needle, but he held his nerve and nodded. Lucy squeezed his hand and let go so the nurse could put the needle in the back of his hand. As the sedative began to work and Scott’s eyes closed, the nurse laid him back.

Lucy watched intently while the nurse worked to reset the bone. Starting with an x-ray, the nurse reset the bone, then applied the regenerator. This wonderful technology allowed the bone to heal fully in just a couple of weeks rather than the 8-12 weeks it used to take less than 30 years ago. ‘What did he do?’ the nurse asked, applying a blue cast to the arm. Lucy sighed. ‘I have absolutely no idea. I was woken up by his brother screaming. I haven’t had the opportunity to ask. Knowing my son, though, he probably jumped off something.’ The nurse chuckled. ‘Yeah, sounds about right for a boy of his age. Bet he loved the plane plasters then!’ Lucy nodded. ‘He’ll be asleep for about half an hour, then you can take him home. He’ll be tired for a couple of days, but he will need to be careful to rest for the next couple of weeks. Bring him back in 14 days and we’ll see how the bone is.’

He left the two alone in the room waiting for Grant and Ruth to come and collect them. They arrived just as Scott was waking up. Ruth put John down beside his brother and John gently hugged his big brother. Scott sleepily smiled at them all. He gingerly waved his casted arm at them. The bright blue cast was lightweight. John tapped it; it made a funny sound and Joh giggled and tapped it again. Scott giggled too. Grant picked Scott up and they piled into the car and made their way home.

Putting Scott straight to bed, Lucy asked Scott what he had done. ‘You were asleep, John was asleep, Grandma and Grandpa were out. I was bored. I jumped off the fence. I put the cushions out like I always do but I missed them.’ Lucy sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot today. ‘Promise me you won’t do anything like that again, Scotty.’ He nodded, yawning. ‘And promise me that if you hurt yourself you come get me or your grandma immediately.’ ‘Ok Mommy, I promise.’ 

Lucy couldn’t wait to tell this one to Jeff. Still, Scott had been jumping off things for over two years and it was amazing that he hadn’t broken something before now. Thinking about Jeff caused another sigh. Jeff was due to leave earth in 5 days. These last six months has been so hard, much harder than last time. But knowing that this was the last time helped.

Grant was taking them to see the launch. Lucy felt like a huge balloon, although she knew that she was only slightly bigger than she had been with her other two. Jeff had initially been shocked when he had heard about Scott’s injuries, but he had soon started laughing as Scott bragged about how far he had jumped. He still made Scott promise he wouldn’t do anything like that again as he had scared not only his mom, but his brother and grandparents too. Scott had promised.

Now they stood in the front row of the viewing area as Jeff and his fellow astronauts walked across the arena and into the car waiting to take them to the shuttle. Scott and John were waving and yelling, increasing in volume when their dad waved back. They watched as the shuttle safely took off. John pointed to the rapidly diminishing ship, turned to Lucy and said: ‘I want to do that like Daddy.’ She was so proud. All to soon it was time to go home.


	2. Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's life becomes more interesting as Virgil joins the family. 
> 
> But the life of a Tracy is never plain-sailing, and challenges lay ahead for Scott and the rest of the family.

The next month was totally ordinary, except for one thing. No baby. He seemed in no hurry to be born. In the end, Virgil Grissom Tracy made his way into the world two weeks late.

From the start, Virgil was another placid baby. Unlike Scott and John, though, Virgil slept. And slept. And slept. He needed to be woken up for everything – meals, nappy changing and even baths. Lucy marvelled at how laid back her third-born seemed to be. Scott had been a fantastic first baby: on time, ate well, barely cried. John had been quiet too, even more than Scott, but Virgil literally just slept.

And as he had been with John, Scott was smitten. For Virgil had chocolate buttons for eyes, like his Mom had. And like John, Virgil seemed equally as enchanted with Scott, following him constantly, firstly with his eyes, then when he could crawl and walk. Scott insisted that Lucy teach him how to care for Virgil, so Lucy taught both boys how to change the nappy and how to safely bathe and feed him (although she secretly thought that John was a rather unwilling participant). 

As he had with John, Scott shared everything with Virgil. However, Scott encouraged John to step up too. He got John to read to Virgil during the day and Scott read to Virgil at night. Scott played planes with Virgil while John talked with him and shared Star with him.

It never ceased to surprise Lucy how her two eldest took Virgil under their wing while Jeff was absent. Even before Virgil turned 9 months, he had followed Scott and John by walking and talking early. And what had surprised all of them was the close bond between Scott and Virgil, even more than with John. Scott always seemed to know where Virgil was, although he couldn’t explain it. 

It came in handy two days before Jeff was due to land. Grant had taken them all into the bigger town to buy presents for their dad’s return. The mall was much bigger than the boys were used to, and they were warned not to wander off. Lucy had Virgil, Ruth had John and Grant took Scott, much to Scott’s chagrin. He was almost 4 now and didn’t need supervising like Johnny (nearly three) and Virgie (nearly one). But Lucy had insisted, so Scott stayed with his Grandpa. They wandered around together as a group for a while, then split off to buy their individual presents.

Lucy had taken Virgil into the bookstore, Ruth and John had gone to the toy store and Grant and Scott were in the model shop. Suddenly Scott had put down the models he had picked up, grabbed his Grandpa and pulled him from the shop to the bookstore as quickly as he could. Getting to the store, he slipped from Grant’s hand and ran inside. Grant frowned and followed, running up the stairs and straight into a panicked Lucy. Virgil had gone. He couldn’t had gone far but she couldn’t find him.

‘What happened?’ Grant asked. ‘There were so many people and then someone started screaming, it frightened Virgil and he ran, I couldn’t keep a hold on him’ She was crying as Grant hugged her. Scott, though, knew exactly where his brother was. Virgil had not gone far from where they had been, ducking under a bottom shelf and curling up. He only moved when a small hand shook him, and his brown eyes looked into deep blue ones. Crawling out, he practically threw himself into Scott’s arms. He gave Virgil a quick hug, then led him out to Lucy. It had taken Scott less than 5 minutes to find him. He couldn’t say how he knew where Virgil was – Scott just knew. Lucy didn’t care – Virgil was safe.

Meeting his dad for the first time could have been scary, but all his family had made sure that Virgil knew who Jeff was from pictures and videos. Jeff knelt down beside Lucy and held his hand out, thinking he would be lucky to have a handshake from Virgil, but Virgil knew his father and held out his hands for a full hug that Jeff happily reciprocated. All his boys were happy Daddy was home.

They bought a small farm about an hour away from Grant and Ruth. It had a beautiful house with four bedrooms and two studies. Jeff had given himself four months to get to know Virgil and to settle down in the new house before he returned to work and his business. His promise to go to England would now happen when Virgil turned two. Those 4 months, for Jeff and Lucy, were amazing, watching the three boys thriving together. They had a small number of fields, and since Jeff wouldn’t be able to (and didn’t want to) be a farmer, Grant sent two of his workers to prepare them ready for planting. And the dog, who was now named Mars after their father’s longest mission, came to live with them.

And life was good. 

Scott was due to start school soon, and Lucy was dreading it. Not least because she would miss her steadfast little helper, but she also wasn’t sure how John and Virgil would react to their eldest brother being away, nor how Scott would react to being separated from them. In fact, Scott took to school like a duck to water despite being the youngest in his class, and when he came home, he shared what he learnt with his brothers. Scott had started school a year higher than his age, and he flourished on it. John also drank in what Scott shared with them. And although Virgil was not showing the same academic leaning his two older brothers had, he still picked up bits that Scott was teaching.

Jeff’s business took off too, although the price was that Jeff worked long hours in the town, coming home often after Virgil, and sometimes even John, were in bed. Scott was usually up, albeit ready for bed.

For summer break, Jeff kept his promise and took the family to see Lucy’s parents in England. They were going for three weeks in August, celebrating Virgil’s second birthday while they were there. Jeff had offered for Lucy and the boys to stay for the full six weeks, but he was loath to go longer than the three. Although the business had taken off spectacularly, Jeff was not happy with his partner. He had started making questionable decisions and making Jeff uncomfortable about some of the investments he had made. Lucy, while missing her family greatly, did not want to be without Jeff – those missions to space had cured her of that in spectacular fashion.

As Jeff had thought he would be, Scott was besotted with the giant airplanes. He slipped his dad’s grasp and ran to the glass, pressing his nose up tight, his vivid blue eyes wide. Jeff chuckled, kneeling down beside the 5-year-old. ‘Daddy, I want to fly that,’ Scott said excitedly, pointing at the giant Boeing. ‘We’ll see, Scott. There’s a lot you need to do first, like finish school with good grades,’ Jeff replied. Lucy rolled her eyes. Scott only five, and already Jeff was lecturing him on doing well in school – not that Scott would have a problem with that.

Jeff led them to the check-in, beyond which they would have a two hour wait in the business lounge. It was not designed for children and Jeff was thankful that Lucy had brought books for Scott and John and a pad and colouring pencils for Virgil. The near-two-year-old was already showing talent in drawing and colouring. They sat down for an hour to wait, then Jeff got up to buy drinks. Kissing the boys on the head and Lucy on the lips, he set off in search of a decent coffee. 

Lucy was busy helping Virgil to draw, while the two oldest read. She did not notice Scott getting restless, nor did she notice him running to the windows looking for the planes. Unfortunately, the planes could not be seen from these windows. So, Scott set off to find a window he could see the planes from. He did not notice he was leaving the lounge, nor did he realise the problems this would cause. In his mind he thought the airport was the size of the mall. He was soon lost, even though he did not know it.

A quarter hour it had taken Jeff to find a decent coffee. He returned to the lounge with three chocolate milkshakes and two coffees. He gave one to John, who barely took his nose out of the book to acknowledge the drink – no change there. He passed Virgil’s to Lucy along with her coffee and turned to give Scott his. Only to find Scott missing. 

Jeff frowned. ‘Luce, where’s Scott?’ Lucy looked up quickly, scanning the small lounge. Her eldest was nowhere to be found. Frightened brown eyes looked into concerned blue-grey ones. ‘I’m sure he was here a minute a go, reading.’ John looked up at his mother. ‘There are no planes outside these windows, Mom.’ And Jeff knew then that Scott would be looking for planes. He probably didn’t realise how large the airport was. ‘Right. Lucy, you go talk to the guy on the desk and I’ll start looking around. He can’t have gone far.’ Lucy agreed, but insisted Jeff take Virgil. She had not forgotten the mall; and hoped that maybe Virgil could do the same.

Jeff stood outside the lounge. ‘Well, Virgil, which way shall we go?’ Without hesitating, Virgil turned left and trotted down the aisle, Jeff bemusedly following behind. It took fifteen minutes, but Virgil unerringly led Jeff straight to Scott, who was indeed staring out the window watching the planes, oblivious to the fact that he was not only missing, but his name had been being called out on the tannoy for the last ten minutes. 

Scott was suitably chastised by both parents. It was the first time he had made his mom cry and he was horrified. Jeff sat him on his knee and explained why mom was crying, how it was such a big place and they had been scared he was lost. He promised never to do that again. And he kept his word, holding onto Jeff tightly. Lucy had hold of the other two boys and they got on the plane.

Scott was in heaven. John didn’t care – he concentrated on his book. Virgil slept.

England was a huge surprise to the boys. For a start – it was cold. It was a shock to them as Kansas was hot and dry in the summer. But Kent was beautiful and green. They had lots of fields there too, but nothing like the ones at home. Lucy’s parents lived on the outskirts of Canterbury, a very old city. They spent lots of time exploring amazing architecture and quirky shops, buying gifts for their grandparents. They went to London and rode the London Eye; they visited the beach and swam in the freezing sea. 

The biggest shock, however, was the food and drinks. The tea was weird to Jeff, the coffee was weak, the milkshakes were made with weird syrups and tasted funny. The food was, well, weird. Funny sandwich fillings, funny dinners, strange puddings. Even the hotdogs were different. Lucy thought their reactions were all hilarious. Two days before they left, they had Virgil’s party where the boys were introduced to funny cakes with cream in.

Still, they all had a wonderful time getting to know grandparents that they had only seen on video phone before. They returned to Kansas with far more than they had set out with, and promises that Lucy’s parents would visit next year, all being well. And Scott kept his promise staying with his family through both airports. Lucy laughed that her 5-year-old and soon-to-be 4-year-old had already decided what they wanted to do when they grew up. Semi-seriously she turned to Virgil and asked him what he wanted to do. Serious brown eyes seemed to contemplate the question. ‘Build,’ he said, ‘draw.’ His parents both laughed.

Three days later, while Grant and Ruth were over for dinner, Lucy announced that she was pregnant.

Life moved on. Scott moved up a year and John started attending preschool at the same place. At first Virgil cried when John left. But now he had both brothers teaching him what they learnt. It was soon apparent that John was even brighter than his parents thought. Discussions were held about putting John in the same year as Scott, but equally his parents were worried about his shyness and the two-year jump that would mean. It became evident quite quickly that John was not coping with the other children, or even the teachers.

Meetings were held and it was decided to leave John where he was, and Scott would look out for him. In an unusual move the school agreed to allow John to have breaks with Scott, since the schools didn’t usually mix. Scott needed no encouragement to look after his shy brother. Before the first month was complete Scott had been reprimanded for fighting several times. He had been defending John, but he was not going to tell the teachers that. While he had been taught to respect them, you didn’t snitch. Ever. But the school called Jeff.

Jeff had been disappointed in Scott, sitting him down and explaining why fighting was not the answer to anything, sending Scott to bed without any family time after dinner when Scott refused to explain. This cut John deeply, and John had been the one to tell his parents what had really happened. Jeff was mortified that Scott had felt unable to tell him, but the punishment stood. The next morning Jeff left for work late so that he could take the boys to school, using the time to explain to both of them that, while he was proud of Scott standing up for his brother, fighting was never right.

Around Thanksgiving Jeff’s business relationship finally dissolved. His partner of seven years was furious, but Jeff had enough money now to fully buy him out. He made all manner of threats to Jeff, but Jeff was a savvy businessman and not easily frightened. He paid over the odds for the remaining share of the business and renamed it Tracy Industries. Jeff had big, big plans and made his first million.

Thanksgiving came and went. Lucy was showing nicely, but unlike her previous pregnancies, she was struggling. She was severely anaemic, had great trouble keeping even water down and had been hospitalised twice with blood pressure issues. This was not a great pregnancy. The boys learnt quickly when their mom needed more help than other times. Scott looked after them when Lucy could not and Jeff was at work, playing games and teaching Virgil what he learnt at school. John was fine – he would curl up with a good book. Ruth came over more often.

The small farm was holding its own as well. With Grant still sending his workers over to take care of the small fields and the six dairy cows, Jeff had not needed to worry. He still worked the farm occasionally at weekends, it kept him fit. The boys looked after the chickens and the dog. Lucy had mentioned having a pony or two for the boys to learn to ride, but Jeff was resistant to that – he knew from experience how much hard work horses were to look after properly. Maybe when the boys were older.

For Christmas Jeff bought Lucy a piano. She had always played well on his parent’s one, and he hoped that she would find it relaxing during this difficult time. Surprisingly, all the boys wanted to try it. So, Lucy set about teaching them to read music and play. They all persevered, but it came as no surprise to see Virgil, even at two and a half, managing to get full tunes out almost immediately.

The snow was still on the ground and Scott was desperate to go sledging before returning to school. There was a lovely hill out the back. Jeff eventually allowed himself to be persuaded. Lucy refused, but promised hot chocolate and warm cookies in half an hour. Scott and John had their own sledges, Virgil rode with Scott. Up and down, up and down, for half an hour. By the end, all three boys had frozen noses and red cheeks; and were more than ready for hot chocolate and cookies. Leaving boots outside, they trouped into the kitchen to four mugs of hot chocolate, a huge plate of chocolate chip cookies but no mom.

Leaving the boys in the kitchen, Jeff went to find Lucy. He was so glad the left the boys in the kitchen when he found Lucy curled up on the bathroom floor. She was bleeding. Calling out to Scott, he gently picked Lucy up and took her out to the car, telling Scott to call his Grandma and ask her to come over. Scott promised he would, and he would look after his brothers until she arrived.

They kept Lucy in for three weeks and she came home mid-January. She was pale but felt a lot better, a lot better. The sickness that had plagued her for the last few months seemed to clear up, but she was ordered to take great care. The boys were careful not to be too boisterous – not hard for John and Virgil, but Scott struggled a little, trying not to jump or run around so much was hard for someone who hated sitting still even to eat.

So, when a fair rolled into town for Valentine’s week, Jeff and Lucy decided that this would be an excellent treat for all the boys. They would go to the fair, then on to Jeff’s parents and stay there for the weekend so Jeff and Lucy could have a meal out for Valentine’s night. The boys were told they would have to stay together with their parents while at the fair – Jeff particularly emphasising to Scott that he had to set a good example of behaving for his brothers. Scott promised.

The day of the fair rolled round. Lucy felt great and they all set out in the car. Parking in the designated field, Jeff knelt down and reminded the boys how important it was that they stay together. Lucy was a little worried when she saw how busy the fair was, but Scott promised to look after John while Jeff looked after Virgil. Scott kept a tight hold of John’s hand.

John was jumpy. He hated crowds and people he didn’t know touching him, but he trusted Scott to look after him. He clung on tight. Halfway through the day the family stopped for lunch. There were picnic tables in a designated area, and they sat down to enjoy the sandwiches Lucy had prepared.

It was while they were packing up that it happened.

Lucy was packing the bag; Jeff was kneeling in front of Virgil cleaning his face. John and Scott were behind Jeff, John still holding Scott’s hand. A man in a clown mask suddenly stepped out and grabbed John’s shoulder. John froze – then bolted, all logical thought driven out by the need to escape. Scott yelled to his dad and took off after John, but John was fast. Very fast. Jeff had thrust Virgil towards Lucy when he heard Scott’s shout and took off after his older boys.

John weaved in and out the crowd until he was in nearly to the car. Suddenly, a man stood in front of him and grabbed his arm. Tightly. ‘Now then, where’s the fire, son,’ he grinned. John struggled to pull himself away, but the man was not going to let go. He pulled a cloth out from his pocket and brought it out to John’s face. Before his hand reached John, however, a blur of brown and blue and red barrelled into him, knocking the man off his feet. Scott’s momentum carried him hard enough into the man holding John that he let go and Scott fell on top of him. 

Scott tried to untangle himself, but the man was having none of it. Holding Scott even tighter than John, he didn’t let Scott have any more time other than to begin to shout for John to run before he held the cloth over Scott’s mouth. In next to no time Scott had passed out, and the man scooped Scott up and held him as if Scott was asleep on his shoulder. He walked off into the car park. No one noticed, it was so busy, and it looked just like it was a man with his son going to their car. They didn’t have far to go; the truck was parked by the exit with the motor running.

John, still in shock, just stood and watched. Watched the man place his brother into a red truck. Watched the red truck pull out of the parking spot. By this time Jeff, yelling out at the top of his voice for the two missing boys, stumbled onto John in his small clearing. His child was obviously in shock over something. But where was Scott? He knelt in front of John as the local deputy, who had been following Jeff, reached them. Gently Jeff asked, ‘John, where is Scott?’ And he felt all the blood drain from him when John pointed to the red truck pulling onto the highway.

The deputy immediately started talking into his radio. Jeff just sat on the floor and held his almost catatonic son tightly. The deputy crouched in front of John, and the boy shrunk further into his father’s arms. ‘Can you tell us what happened, son? What happened to Scott?’ John buried his head into Jeff’s shoulder. ‘He grabbed me. Scott rescued me. The man held something over Scott’s face and he fell asleep. Then he picked him up and put him in the truck.’ The deputy sighed. He put his hand on Jeff’s other shoulder. ‘Do you think your son could describe him well enough for us? And the car?’ Jeff looked at the man. ‘I honestly don’t know. I’ll ask’.

John shyly looked at the deputy. He might not like people he did not know, but he knew that policemen were safe, they were nice. Their local one gave them lollipops. To the delight and relief of both men John reeled of the licence plate of the truck and a brief description of the man’s features and his clothes. The deputy was staring at John by now. Jeff gave a small smile and shrugged. ‘Eidetic memory,’ he explained. The man nodded. He helped Jeff to his feet and walked back with him to Lucy.

Lucy was frantic. Virgil had been good, sitting at the table drawing. But Lucy’s face fell when she saw Jeff return with John and a deputy, but no Scott. She ran to them, and Jeff enfolded her into his free side. ‘Scott?’ she whispered fearfully. Jeff shook his head. ‘He’s been taken,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Taken?’ she repeated, clamping her hands over her mouth. Lucy’s legs gave way and the next thing she knew she was on the floor, with Jeff holding her closely and John hugging Virgil. The deputy was talking on the radio, people in the fair by now knew something was going on, and there were lots of police were turning up. 

The deputy introduced himself as Andrew Rivers. He got onto the stage and asked people to come forward with video footage to see if there were any pictures. The organisers took the family away to a private tent where the first aiders looked over both Lucy and John. They gave the larger tent over to the police. It was hoped that, with the information John had given, they could find the truck quickly. Kidnapped children were rare, but everyone understood the need for speed. Families swamped the police tent with footage and, coupled with the CCTV, a clear picture was built.

There were definitely two people involved. And John had definitely been targeted. When the man had got into the truck with Scott, the engine was already running, and he had got into the back. John repeated what had happened, becoming more and more upset as he was asked to repeat his story again and again. Jeff asked for permission to take his family home. Deputy Rivers said he would arrange an escort. It was at this point Jeff remembered that they were due at his parents, not at home. But they all agreed it was better to go home in case the kidnappers called. 

The phone call to his parents was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He was grateful beyond belief when his dad said they were coming over straight away. He needed them. Lucy needed them. The doctor came and lightly sedated John as he had become more and more agitated. Lucy couldn’t be sedated, her pregnancy was too problematic for that, so the doctor stayed to keep an eye on her.

Despite knowing the truck’s licence plate, it seemed to have vanished. Night came and there was nothing. Lucy’s condition worsened and in the early hours of the morning they rushed her to hospital, Ruth going with her. Jeff was a mess. His eldest was missing, his wife hospitalised, his second eldest sedated. Only Virgil remained the same. He had cried at first. But now, at 4.30 in the morning his two-and-a-half-year-old boy came in, completely unfazed by the police, and climbed into his father’s lap. Patting Jeff on the cheek he said, ‘don’t worry, Daddy. Scotty sleeping,’ Jeff hugged him close and kissed the top of his head.

The police set up a special phone that should trace the call, when it came. All Jeff had to do was keep them talking long enough. Grant made coffee and toast. And the waiting began. It was Valentine’s day.

Scott awoke in a bed that was not his own, with a headache and feeling really sick. There was a bottle of water on the side and he opened it and drank some. Sitting up in bed, he hugged his knees into his chest. Something wasn’t right but he couldn’t remember what had happened. ‘Mom? Dad?’ Scott called. Silence answered. He climbed out of the bed and tried the door. It was locked, so he climbed back into bed and waited.

He didn’t know how long he waited, but eventually he heard the door being unlocked. He didn’t move. Two men came in and one of them locked the door behind them. They gave him some toast, which Scott ate, and then they told him they were going to talk to his dad. Scott perked up at this. Maybe his dad could explain what was going on. He was wary of the men, so behaved himself.

The phone rang at 7.45 in the morning. Jeff answered it, putting it onto the speaker. ‘Is this Jeff Tracy?’ Jeff nodded before remembering he needed to speak. ‘Yes, I am Jeff Tracy. What do you want?’ He swallowed, hoping he hadn’t come across as too rude. ‘We have your son. If you want him back, we want $500,000.’ Jeff swallowed again. ‘Please, please let me speak to him, he’s only six.’

There was a short pause and the Scott’s voice rang out. ‘Daddy? Daddy, what’s going on?’ he asked. Knowing he had to play for time, Jeff asked Scott if he remembered what had happened. ‘Not really,’ he replied. ‘I remember the fair and having lunch. Did we visit someone and I forgot?’ ‘No, son, that’s not what happened, but never mind, it’s not important.’ 

‘Ok Daddy,’ said Scott, more than reassured by his father’s voice. ‘Daddy, can I speak to Johnny and Virgie? Please?’ Jeff tried to chuckle. It didn’t come out right. ‘Sorry Scott, Johnny is still in bed, but you can talk to Virgil here,’ he said, passing the phone to Virgil. ‘Hey Virgie, you behaving for Mommy and Daddy while I’m here?’ Scott asked. Virgil nodded. ‘Yes Scotty. Mommy is not here but Grandma is with her. Grandpa is here. He made coffee. And toast.’ ‘I had toast for breakfast too,’ Scot said. Before he could ask anything more the phone was taken off him. The first man said that he would call his dad back with instructions, and Scott just about heard his dad shouting him to behave.

Jeff looked over to the police. They gave him a thumbs up. Jeff crumpled. ‘Your boys did good, Jeff. They did just enough to get a trace.’ The tears that had threatened to fall crept down his face. Virgil leaned up and wiped them away, and Jeff hugged him tight. Grant put his hand on his son’s shoulder. ‘Jeff, maybe we should head off to the hospital now,’ he said. Jeff looked to Deputy Rivers and he nodded. ‘Get yourself to your wife’s side, we’ll do the rest.’

Gathering up the still sleeping John and holding Virgil’s hand, Jeff made his way to his car. Grant had already got it started, and the police escorted them to the hospital, through the reporters that had gathered at the gate of the farmhouse. Arriving at the hospital, they were ushered to see Lucy. Or rather, Jeff was ushered to her. Grant stayed with the boys and Ruth soon joined them. Grant looked over to his wife. ‘How is she?’ Ruth shook her head. ‘She’s gone into labour; the baby is distressed.’ John began to wake up.

The next four hours passed simultaneously in a fast blur and very, very slowly. Lucy struggled more and more. Eventually the doctors decided they could wait no longer. They prepped Lucy for surgery. 

Scott, just as his dad had asked, was behaving himself. This was quite easy as since the phone call the two men had left, locked the door and had not returned. Truth be told, Scott was bored. So, he started jumping on the bed. It was very bouncy. He was enjoying himself. He started jumping off the bed to see how close to the door he could land. This made quite a racket, but still the two strange men did not come up to see him. He jumped a bit more. 

Scott gave himself a break, then went back to jumping. He wanted to see how high he could jump. Unfortunately, he jumped too close to the edge, twisted his ankle and bashed his face on the heater as he fell off the bed. He knocked out his front two teeth and knocked his nose. It bled everywhere. Scott struggled up and back onto the bed. It was at this point he heard an almighty crashing from downstairs accompanied with lots of shouting, so he hid under the covers.

It didn’t take long for the door to be unlocked, and a voice called out his name. But Scott did not move; he didn’t know the voice. The man came into the room, eyeing the blood over the floor and covers. He gently pulled the covers back. ‘Scott Tracy, I assume. I’ve come to take you to your father’. Scott came out at that. The man frowned at the blood. He gently took Scott’s chin. ‘What did they do to you?’ he asked. Scott had the good grace to blush. ‘I was jumping off the bed and fell and hit the heater.’ The man suddenly grinned. ‘I remember doing that at your age. I broke my nose, if I remember rightly!’ Scott returned his grin as the man offered his hand. Scott took it and the man lead him through the now empty house to a waiting car.

They arrived at the hospital as Lucy was being prepped for surgery. She just managed to see him before she went under. Jeff scooped him up and held him close, Scott returning the embrace. Nothing was said, but the hug was enough. The waiting nurse cleaned up Scott’s face before Jeff took him in to see his brothers. John burst into tears and hugged Scott tightly. Virgil squeezed into the embrace and the three sat on the floor, with Ruth and Grant looking on.

‘What happened to your face, Scotty?’ asked John. Scott grinned, showing off the gaps in his mouth. He’d lost the teeth in the strange house, his nose and face were bruised, and Ruth was worried, until Scott said: ‘there was a giant bed, and it was very bouncy, and I was jumping and then I fell off and hit the heater.’ At this ridiculous image, both his brothers fell about laughing. Soon all five in the room were laughing. They all needed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't subscribe to the belief that Scott would have struggled in school. I believe that someone who can come top of their year at Yale and Oxford with a double masters, participate in the repair and upkeep of TB1 and look after 4 younger brothers and a house whilst little more than a young teen himself; must be bright - just not John bright!


	3. Gordon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the family deal with the aftermath of Scott's kidnapping, a new brother brings both joy and heartache for Scott and Lucy.
> 
> But family rally round and life moves on.

Jeff looked haggard, but he was delighted to see that Scott, and by extension, John seemed no worse for the experience. Ruth looked up and sobered up immediately. ‘Lucy?’ she asked. Jeff nodded. Kneeling down, he held his arms open and his three boys climbed in. ‘Boys, your mother is not very well, but I’m pleased to announce that you have a new baby brother.’ The two younger boys were very excited, but Scott had a frown on his face. 

‘What is it, Scott?’ his father asked. ‘Isn’t the baby a bit early?’ Jeff heaved a big sigh. ‘Yes son, Gordon is early, and as such they are keeping him in hospital in a special crib that will help him get better. You will be allowed to see him tomorrow, when he’s had a good sleep.’

Scott nodded. That is all he wanted. Another brother – how exciting! A doctor came into the room just then. The police wanted to make sure Scott really was alright and had asked for a complete check-up. Jeff went with them. Scott was not happy to be so thoroughly checked over. After sitting patiently for five whole minutes while he was poked and prodded, he started squirming to get down. Jeff chuckled to himself. Lord help his son if he was ever really ill – he hated sitting still for so long.

The doctors gave Scott the all clear. By now it was early evening and all Scott had eaten was one slice of toast. He was hungry! The sick feeling from the funny cloth was gone, and the doctors had reassured Jeff that Scott was unlikely to have any issues from that. He had a bruised upper arm where the man had grabbed him. There was a small irony that the major damage – his nose, mouth and chin was bruising up nicely – was caused by himself.

The nice policeman who had collected him from the room had popped in to chat to the doctors and Jeff. Scott, sitting on the bed, was bored. Suddenly the man appeared in front of Scott, and Scott flinched back. He’d made Scott jump and immediately the man stepped back and apologised as Jeff came and sat next to his son, putting his arm around his shoulders. It was obvious that Scott had been affected by what had happened.

‘I’m sorry Scott, I didn’t mean to make you jump. We didn’t get properly introduced earlier. My name is Jerry.’ He held out his hand and slowly Scott took it. They shook hands quite solemnly. ‘Thank you,’ Scott said. Jeff squeezed his shoulders. ‘I’m going to let you get some sleep tonight, Scott, then I need to talk to you about what happened. I’d like you to come into town for that, if that’s ok.’ Scott looked at his dad, then back to Jerry. ‘Can I bring my Daddy please?’ He really didn’t feel like going anywhere on his own. Jerry broke out into a wide grin. ‘Of course you can. And, if we time it for you to come at 11am, I’ll sneak you in a couple of donuts!’ he said with a wink. Scott brightened considerably at that idea. Jeff openly laughed. ‘So, donut-eating cops is not too much of a cliché?’ ‘Never was a cliché truer,’ murmured Jerry. He stood up, shook hands with Scott and Jeff again, and left.

Jeff let out a sigh. Pulling Scott onto his lap, he hugged him tight. ‘I’m so proud of you, son,’ he said, kissing the top of Scott’s head. ‘John said you saved him. You have been so very brave.’ Scott looked up to his dad. ‘He wasn’t a very nice man, and he frightened Johnny. I was angry with him, but I remember you said that fighting was bad.’ Jeff met his son’s worried blue eyes. ‘Fighting other children is wrong, Scott, but you were right this time. An adult should never grab a child like you and Johnny were. Next time, try screaming as loud as possible at the same time. That works too. It’s ok being brave, but you need to remember that your safety is just as important as your brothers.’ Scott nodded, but secretly he wasn’t sure. Nothing was more important than his brothers. Nothing.

Jeff helped him down and they returned to the room where everyone else was. Grant and Ruth were going to take the boys home for dinner and bed, then bring them back in the morning. Jeff was going to stay with Lucy and Gordon. All three boys were upset when they were told that they couldn’t say goodnight to either of them; but promises of Grandma’s macaroni cheese and apple pie soon motivated them to move. Jeff gave them all an extra-long hug, he had a feeling he’d be doing that a lot over the next few days, and watched the boys leave with his parents.

Returning to Lucy’s room, Jeff noticed she was stirring. Holding her hand and gently brushing the hair off her face, he kept calling her name until she opened her eyes. She gazed up at him. ‘Baby?’ she managed. ‘Gordon is fine. He’s in an incubator and they’ll bring him around tomorrow,’ he replied. ‘Scott?’ Smiling down at her, Jeff replied, ‘home, eating macaroni cheese and complaining he cannot see his baby brother until tomorrow.’ Lucy managed a small smile. Her baby was home. Sighing slightly, she fell into a more natural state of sleep. Jeff whispered to her ‘happy Valentine’s day, Lucy,’ kissed her forehead and left to see his fourth son.

Getting directions to the correct ward, Jeff was not prepared for the sight of Gordon in the incubator. The nurse on duty talked him through what all the monitors did, and Jeff was allowed to slip his hand through the hole. Gordon latched his tiny fist around Jeff’s finger. He had a nappy that looked ginormous on him, and a pale yellow knitted cap on his head. Jeff stayed half an hour before he was shooed out, returning to Lucy to stay the night.

The next morning Grant and Ruth brought the boys over to the hospital. It had not been an easy night for them, John had cried all night for his mom and Scott had been reluctant to go to bed at all. Virgil was the only one that went to bed and straight to sleep. In the end Grant had moved Scott’s bed into John’s room. Thirty minutes later when Ruth went up to check on the two boys, she found them curled up together on John’s bed, fast asleep. When she retired an hour later, Virgil had joined them, sneaking into John’s embrace and Scott against the wall, arm over both of them. Ruth took a picture.

John was very withdrawn, far more than usual, but Scott and Virgil were bouncing, so excited to see their new brother. First stop was to see their mom. Lucy was sitting up, waiting. She hadn’t seen Scott properly yesterday and was desperate. As the trio were ushered in by their grandparents, it was a toss-up who would reach Lucy first – Scott or John. But Jeff Intercepted both before they could jump on their mom.

‘Boys, you cannot jump on Mommy, she’s not well. One at a time and no wiggling!’ Jeff explained. He knew that Lucy would want to see Scott, but John’s need was greater. So, scooping John up and placing him on the bed on Lucy’s left, he pulled Scott into his lap on Lucy’s right. John snuggled in under him mom’s arm and Lucy hugged him tight. She cupped Scott’s face with her right hand. Looked him over and sighed. ‘What happened to your face?’ Scott blushed, it was Virgil who explained, giggling as he did so. Soon everyone was laughing. Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes. They all needed that.

One of the nurses brought in the incubator with Gordon inside. They all took turns to hold Gordon’s hand. He had yet to open his eyes, and Scott was hoping that he would before Scott and his dad had to leave. He had not forgotten the promise of donuts. And Gordon did not disappoint his biggest brother. He opened his eyes as he held Scott’s fingers, and blue eyes stared into green ones. ‘Mommy, Mommy,’ cried Scott excitedly, ‘Gordon’s looking at me! He’s looking at me! He’s got green eyes!’

‘Really? I wonder what colour his hair is then,’ said Ruth. Jeff and Lucy looked over at her. Ruth shrugged. ‘My eldest brother had red hair and green eyes. Recessive gene that pops up somewhere every second or third generation,’ she explained. And the nurse confirmed that Gordon did indeed have a small head of red hair. 

After half an hour they took Gordon away, explaining that if he stayed in the special incubator then he would grow bigger and be out soon. Probably wouldn’t be for a few weeks. It would take that long for Lucy’s stitches to heal completely anyway. And shortly after that Grant took Jeff and Scott to the town police station.

Entering the station, Scott clung tightly to both his dad and his grandpa’s hands as they approached the front desk together. Grant spoke to the man behind the desk and shortly the nice man called Jerry came to collect them. He took them to a large room with comfortable chairs and some toys in the corner. On the small table in the middle was the promised donuts, with coffee and chocolate milk. They all sat around the table.

Jerry asked Scott to tell him what happened at the fair, and for the next hour or so they chatted nicely about not only what had happened but anything that Scott wanted. It veered from the weekend’s events to what Scott was learning at school (Sport seemed to be his current favourite) to Scott’s goal of flying planes when he grew up. As the session naturally wound up, Jerry asked Scott to go look at some pictures with a nice lady policeman.

Once Scott had moved to the end of the room and out of hearing, the three men got down to business. Jerry explained that they had identified the two men responsible. It was with gasps of shock that one of them was identified as being employed on Grant’s farm and had worked on Jeff’s land too, the other being his brother. Both men were horrified. It was not a random kidnap – this man had known exactly how much to ask for, which boy to take.

Grant was devastated. He trusted his men so implicitly, how could he had got this so wrong? He did not have a suspicious mind. Maybe he would need to be more careful now that Jeff’s business was doing so very, very well. It had not occurred to either of them that making money could have such an effect on people.

Jeff sighed. He could not imagine what would have resulted if they had taken John as planned, his shy son may not have got over that. Scott had been jumpy yesterday and had not slept well at first last night, god knows what John would have been like. Would he now have to take more care of his family as his business took off?

Scott was looking at pictures of people and had picked out, as asked, the two men he had seen at the house. He then spent an animated ten minutes explaining to the nice lady policeman how he had lost his front teeth. She had giggled along with him and asked if he would like another donut. Scott couldn’t have grinned wider if he tried.

Jerry explained how the court case would work. If both pleaded guilty then there would be no further involvement from them. If they claimed they were not guilty then it would go to trial and it was probable that Jeff and possibly Grant would be asked to witness, but Scott and John would not. They were too young, and their testimony would be done before and by video. That, at least, was a small relief. They would know in a couple of weeks.

They returned to the hospital, where they dropped Jeff off and collected Ruth, John and Virgil; and headed out for lunch, which Scott ate every scrap off despite having just eaten 3 donuts.

For the next six weeks they followed this routine. Jeff kept Scott and John off school. At the end of the four weeks, both Lucy and Gordon came home. The two kidnappers went to pretrial, and both pled guilty, which relieved the Tracy family immensely. While it had been very obvious that this was an amateur job, what they were not told was that both men had told police that they had been paid a tidy sum from a man they had not met to do the job. It had not been their idea at all.

Lucy was having a terrible time with Gordon. Unlike her three oldest, Gordon cried all the time. Nothing seemed to soothe him, except when he was bathed. By the end of their second week at home Lucy was a wreck. What made it worse was that Scott seemed to have no trouble getting Gordon to stop crying. As soon as he came home from school, Scott made a beeline for Gordon to give his mom a well-deserved break while John took Virgil under his wing. 

At first Lucy was relieved that Gordon would at least have a couple of hours where he was quiet. But as the days passed, and she still couldn’t get Gordon to settle whereas Scott could, she started getting resentful. Jeff noticed a change in the atmosphere in the evenings when he managed to get home in time for dinner, which he tried to do every evening now. He had seen how much Lucy was struggling. Jeff had even spoken to his mom for advice. Ruth said Lucy needed time to bond with Gordon, the four weeks that they had been separated when he was born had made that natural bond difficult, coupled with the fact that Lucy was still recovering herself. Jeff worried.

It came to a head a couple of weeks later. It had been a week of constant rain, and she had not been able to go out with Gordon during the day. Today, Gordon had been screaming all day, refusing to be comforted. He had reduced Lucy to tears. Then Scott and John came home from school. John immediately took Virgil upstairs to read, Scott went to get Gordon out of his cot. And Gordon stopped screaming. Lucy, fighting to hold it all together, found she just couldn’t. She dissolved into a heap in the kitchen. Scott, worried for his mom, put Gordon down in the playpen and rushed over to find out what was wrong.

Suddenly Scott found himself gripped by his mom, Lucy having hold of his upper arms. On her knees, she started ranting at Scott, saying how he was trying to take Gordon away from her. While she was doing this Lucy was shaking Scott. The poor boy was terrified. Lucy moved on to how Scott was an awful big brother who obviously didn’t care for Gordon, as it was Scott’s fault that Gordon had been born early. She couldn’t have hurt Scott any deeper. By this time, with tears streaming he was crying out repetitively ‘I’m sorry, Mommy, I’m sorry’. John had come downstairs to find out what the commotion was. Seeing his mom gripping and shaking his frightened brother, John rushed over and tried desperately to release Lucy’s grip, prying at her hands with tiny useless fingers. It was the bravest thing John had ever done.

Jeff was driving home early. His last meeting had been cancelled and he was going to surprise Lucy by being a couple of hours early. He knew that she was struggling to cope with the last eight weeks, and he was hoping to be able to help. Parking the car and rushing to unlock the door, he was totally unprepared for the commotion that met him. 

The first thing that hit him was the noise. He could hear Gordon screaming – no change there. But he could hear Scott and John, and they sounded upset too. Entering the lounge off the kitchen, the sight that greeted him stopped him dead. Lucy was on her knees with Scott in front of her. She had him by the upper arms and was shaking him while talking to him. Jeff couldn’t hear what she was saying but the look of terror on his eldest’s face coupled with the tears streaming down his face was a sight he would never forget. And then there was John, trying his hardest to prise Lucy’s fingers off his big brother while also crying. 

Jeff immediately called John over. Instructing him to take Gordon upstairs and to check on Virgil, he asked him to call his grandma so she could come over urgently. As John picked up Gordon and left, Jeff knelt beside Lucy and tried to pull her into a hug. It was as if Lucy didn’t know he was there. Keeping her to his chest with one arm, he reached over and turned Lucy’s face towards him, all the while calling her name. It took a good few minutes before Lucy registered his presence. As soon as Scott felt his mom’s grip slacken, he pulled away and shot off, leaving Jeff torn between his distraught wife and his terrified son.

He pulled Lucy closer into a tight hug. For a minute nothing changed, and then she collapsed on him, sobbing violently. And that it how Ruth and Grant found the couple 45 minutes later. Grant went upstairs to check on the children while Ruth stayed downstairs.

John was doing great with Gordon; he was just grizzling now instead of the full-on screaming from earlier. Virgil had stayed upstairs; it was no surprise that he’d fallen asleep already, despite the noise. Ruth gently disentangled Lucy from Jeff and took her upstairs to lie down. Grant brought the three children downstairs, after waking Virgil up. As they entered the lounge, John looked around. ‘Daddy, where’s Scott?’ The question made Jeff’s heart stop. He had assumed that Scott had run upstairs when he had got free, but that obviously was not right. Looking to his dad, Jeff said he was just going to fetch Scott.

Entering the kitchen, Jeff sighed deeply when he saw the kitchen door open. Jeff hoped that he knew where Scott would be. At the bottom of the farm Scott would be in the large barn. He’d often come down on weekends when Jeff occasionally worked the land, fascinated by the tractor. Even more so when Jeff had mentioned the possibility later of getting rid of some of the fields and getting their own plane. Sure enough, Scott was huddled in the corner of the barn, hiding under some sacking. Mars had cuddled up to him.

Jeff carefully picked Scott up, concerned that Scott was shaking. Shock, Jeff assumed. He hugged Scott tightly until Scott started to relax a little, then gently pulled back to check him over. There were livid marks across his upper arms.

‘Scott, you know that Mommy didn’t mean it, right? She’s been very stressed with everything and it all became too much for her. She’s very sorry, son.’ Scott nodded, but didn’t say anything. Jeff sighed. ‘What do you think, son?’

Scott looked up to his dad. ‘I don’t know how to make Mommy happy anymore. She’s always crying and Gordon’s always crying. I try to take Gordon to give Mommy a break, but that just makes Mommy sadder.’ Jeff sighed again. Maybe Lucy needed to see the doctor. In the meantime, he was completely at a loss as to what to do about this particular incident. Footsteps drew him from his thinking; he looked up to see Grant in the doorway. He came over and sat next to Jeff and took Scott onto his own lap.

The three sat there for a while, giving Ruth time to help Lucy. Grant took his grandson’s chin and lifted his face until Scott was looking into his eyes. ‘Scott, just remember your mother loves you very much, but she’s not well at the moment. So, anything bad that happens, it’s not your fault and it’s not your mom’s fault. Ok?’ Scott nodded again. ‘Ok.’

Dinner was a strained, quiet affair – except for Gordon’s crying – but even that seemed more muted than usual. Afterwards, Jeff sent the boys upstairs to read and he put Gordon to bed, hoping that for once the baby would settle. Peeking in on Virgil and John, who now shared a room, he fondly watched the two sitting on Virgil’s bed as John read about stars and planets in the solar system to him. Jeff made a mental note – get John a telescope for his fifth birthday. ‘Are you alright, John?’ Jeff asked, worried that John might be taking the whole incident badly and keeping it in. John glanced up. ‘I’m fine Daddy, Grandma explained that Mommy was ill,’ John replied. Jeff nodded and kissed both his sons.

He looked in on Scott. He had tucked himself into bed already. Jeff came in and sat on the bed. ‘Are you alright, son?’ he asked. Scott looked a little lost. Jeff lent over and kissed his forehead. ‘Scott, son, do you want to talk about what Mommy said to you?’ Jeff tried, hoping to draw out what had occurred. Scott shook his head and settled down further into bed. It was no surprise to Jeff – after all he himself was notorious for not really discussing how he felt. Scott hadn’t really opened up about the kidnapping yet, and that was only eight weeks ago. Jeff was worried about how this new trauma would affect him. 

Jeff sighed. ‘Your grandma is going to stay a couple of days while we help Mommy out. In the meantime, do you want to help me make sure Mommy gets a good sleep tonight?’ Scott nodded slightly. ‘What we are going to do is let you and John and Virgil camp out in Gordon’s room. I think if you are all there, maybe Gordon won’t cry as much and then Mommy can get some sleep. How does that sound?’ He thought that Scott would jump at the idea but was shocked to see Scott actually pale slightly.

Pulling Scott into a gentle hug on his lap, Jeff kissed his forehead. Scott was torn. He loved his brothers so much and normally would have jumped at the idea. But he couldn’t help hearing again how it was all his fault – first with John not speaking, then the mean man trying to take John and now with Gordon – maybe it would be better if he stayed away from them all. Scott shook his head slightly; he didn’t want to be near anyone right now.

Jeff had other ideas. While not knowing what was going through his eldest child’s head, he wasn’t about to let Scott be on his own tonight. Before Scott could refuse, Jeff put Scott down on the floor, grabbed his mattress and moved quietly into Gordon’s room. Glancing over to the cot, he could see the baby was awake, but he was at least quiet. Jeff left Scott to sort his bed out while he went and got John and Virgil. Soon all three were around the cot, quietly chatting among themselves. Scott already looked better.

After leaving the room, but before going downstairs, Jeff called Dr Harper, the family’s doctor. Explaining the situation, the doctor said it sounded like Lucy might be struggling with depression – not unusual considering the traumatic birth and the circumstances surrounding it. He suggested that Lucy take a sleeping pill tonight and he would be round in the morning to discuss things with both of them. Lucy agreed to take the tablet and she slept through the night, Jeff getting up to see to Gordon. Gordon had a surprisingly good night, leading Jeff to wonder if he should move one of the boys in here permanently. Ruth thought that would be a bad idea – Scott and John needed their sleep for school, and Virgil had only just moved in with John. Grant and Ruth stayed on the sofa bed in the study downstairs.

Morning came around and Jeff called the school to say that Scott would not be in. He offered John the same chance but was not surprised when John said he’d rather go to school. So, Grant took John to school, then he took Scott and Virgil into town on the pretext of shopping, and Ruth took charge of Gordon, who had started crying again. At 10am the doctor came. First, he went up and saw to Lucy. He could see she was exhausted, she seemed to be thinner than he had ever seen her. He told her to rest while he spoke to Jeff and Ruth. 

Downstairs Dr Harper sat down with Jeff and Ruth. ‘Lucy needs a break. She’s exhausted and with Gordon being so demanding she’s not getting any rest. I’m going to suggest she has time away.’ Ruth nodded. Jeff replied, ‘away from all of us or just from Gordon?’ ‘Actually, I think she needs to take Gordon with her but have time away from all other stresses. It will give her the opportunity to solely focus on the baby, and maybe that will be what is needed for the two of them to bond better. He seems to have bonded with his eldest brother, but I think that is due to Scott being relaxed whereas Lucy is so tense.’

Jeff sat back. That did make sense. He looked to Ruth. ‘Can she say with you, Mom?’ he asked. ‘Of course she can, and it will be a pleasure to look after her, Grant will be delighted.’ ‘That’s great. I’ve left some tablets for Lucy, just a months’ course of mild antidepressants. They will also help her to sleep.’ He got up, shook Jeff and Ruth by the hand and Ruth showed him out while Jeff went upstairs to talk to Lucy.

Lucy was curled up on the bed. She felt like a failure. Not only had she been awful to her eldest when all he was doing was helping, now the doctor had said she needed to leave them all and concentrate on herself. She wept silently. As Jeff sat on the bed next to Lucy, his heart broke to see her crying. She’d never cried in all their years married, not that he’d seen. He gently lay down beside her and folded her into a hug. And he just held her, stroking her hair, as she wept.

Half an hour passed before Lucy stirred and began to compose herself. Sitting up, and helping Jeff to sit up beside her, she heaved a huge sigh. ‘I feel like such a failure, Jeff. I never had all this with the others. What’s wrong with me?’ Jeff hugged her tighter. ‘Luce, you had a difficult pregnancy, we had the stress of Scott being kidnapped which led you to go into labour early. Then Gordon needed to be in that incubator while you needed to rest due to the stitches. It’s been an awful 12 weeks, honey, and you’re not being fair to yourself. You’re fried, my love.’ Lucy smiled at that. ‘But I can’t leave the boys and you alone for a month. How will you cope?’ Jeff chuckled.

‘You know how well behaved our oldest three are. It will be easy. Scott and John will help with Virgil, and they will be at school for most of the time. Maybe Virgil will like to go to the creche rather than stay at home, then I can pick them all up at 3 and either skip out of work early or have a “bring your many sons to work” day.’ Lucy laughed at that. ‘Anyway, Ann would love to look after the boys for an hour or so until I finish. I just want you to concentrate on getting better and getting to know Gordon. Once you relax, he will relax.’

‘Ok. I guess I can manage that. It won’t be the same without you all,’ she replied. ‘I wonder how the boys will manage?’ Jeff nodded. The only one he was worried about was John. He was far more attached to Lucy than Scott or Virgil. But with their help, John would cope, he would make sure. ‘When are you going to go?’ ‘Doc said I should go now, but with Scott’s birthday in three days, I can’t leave now. Imagine what that would do to him on top of last night.’ Jeff nodded. ‘Ok, I agree, but you got to let the boys help more with Gordon until then.’ She nodded. 

The next three days passed relatively the same as the previous weeks had. Gordon still cried almost non-stop, although now he would calm down for both Scott and John. Jeff cut back at the office and turned one of the studies into a temporary home office, spending his mornings at home and his afternoons at work. He made sure he was home for dinner at 6pm every day. This meant Lucy had help almost all the time – Jeff in the mornings and evenings, and Scott and John in the afternoons. 

That first day Scott had found difficult. He understood his mom was ill, but he didn’t know how to act around her. He fell back on just staying out of the way and not interacting with Gordon at all. Lucy kept stealing glances at him, she wasn’t sure how to react either. 

In the end, after John and Virgil had gone to bed, Lucy sat down on the floor next to him and gently pulled Scott onto her lap. Scott was stiff. She gently took his chin and turned his face to meet hers. ‘Scott, honey, I’m so, so sorry.’ Scott’s lower lip wobbled, and his eyes filled with tears. Lucy drew him into a tight hug. ‘I know you were only helping, and I can only keep saying sorry. I promise I didn’t mean anything I said, and it will never happen again. Do you understand?’ Scott nodded, finally relaxing into his mother’s arms and letting his tears fall. Lucy soon joined him, and that’s how Jeff found them when he came downstairs from putting John to bed. Jeff was relieved that the two had spoken.

Scott’s birthday was a great success. Jeff took them all to the aerodrome where they watched the planes performing the most amazing aerobatics. Scott was enthralled, John and Virgil were fully engaged in the show and even Gordon seemed quieter. The highlight for Scott was when one of the planes unfurled a banner out the back with his name on wishing him happy birthday. Scott asked for flying lessons for his seventh birthday. Jeff rolled his eyes.

The next day Jeff drove the whole family to his parent’s house for dinner. With four adults and four children it was a lively affair, topped off with Grandma’s apple pie. The afternoon was spent lounging outside. It was a beautiful spring day, not too hot but pleasantly warm. Then the three boys said goodbye to their mom and youngest brother; and got into the car while their dad said goodbye. There were tears and promises to call every night. Jeff and Lucy hugged tightly. And they left, with Lucy and Ruth waving until they were out of sight.

The next month passed in a whirl. Jeff got the boys up every morning and dropped Scott and John off at school, then went on to the office with Virgil. Virgil was left at the creche for the morning and Ann, his PA, picked all three up when school finished and brought them upstairs to the office. There the three boys had the run of Ann’s office and the waiting room until Jeff finished at 5pm. They were allowed to do what they wanted as long as they were quiet if she was on the phone or someone else was in the room. This typically meant that John read while Virgil either read with John or drew pictures on the office paper. Scott was too active to sit for any length of time, so he either was helping his brothers, trying to help Ann or just generally running around. He took it upon himself to initiate Virgil in the joys of jumping off things. 

Jeff thought Ann had the patience of a saint looking after all three. Ann was secretly delighted in the lightening of the atmosphere when the boys were here, although she could have done without Scott’s attempts to ‘help’ her, and her heart leaping into her mouth when she caught Scott trying to teach Virgil how to ‘safely’ jump off the large conference table in the meeting room. That was one lesson Scott was not going to forget, especially when his father cancelled an important meeting to explain why it was not a good idea to jump from such a height for himself, let alone encourage his two-and-a-half-year-old brother to do the same. This was not the first time Jeff had had to explain to Scott that younger brothers could not always do the same things as he could, and that Scott needed to remember that they followed his example.

After they arrived home, Scott took charge while Jeff ‘cooked’ dinner. It was a month of pizza, burgers and burnt offerings. They had a riot, going to bed late, eating junk food and spending weekends up on their grandparent’s farm with Lucy and Gordon.

Lucy found the first week so very hard; while she had had long periods away from Jeff, she had never spent time away from her boys except the time she had spent in hospital – and even then they had visited every day. As she started to relax, Gordon also seemed to relax. After the first three days where he refused to settle, Gordon suddenly became far quieter. He was nowhere near as quiet or as laid-back as his brothers, but Lucy began to enjoy being his mother and Gordon behaved more like Scott had – albeit louder.

At the end of the month Grant drove Ruth, Lucy and Gordon home to a huge party that Scott and John had insisted was needed. Of course, huge to a 6- and a nearly 5-year old meant balloons, a home-made ‘Welcome Home’ banner and lots and lots of cake. Jeff was ecstatic that Lucy and Gordon had bonded so well, and Lucy seemed like she was back to her old self.

Life carried on. Gordon promised to be an early achiever as his brothers had been, despite his rough start. Summer came, Jeff took another three weeks off and took the whole extended family to Florida. Gordon, even at only 6 months, was enamoured of the sea, creating a huge fuss when he was taken out of the water. John loved the trip to Cape Kennedy and the space centre. Where once this was the place rockets were sent to the moon, now there was a huge museum, and John wanted to spend every second there. Virgil just wanted to draw. Scott discovered a love of boats, as Jeff took the family out on a boat as often as possible. Jeff secretly thought that it was not a love of boats that Scott was showing, but rather a love of fast engines.

They returned home a very happy family. Jeff’s business was going so well that plans were in place to tear down and build a bigger factory and move the office into the bigger town. It was over an hour extra to drive each way, but Jeff and Lucy felt that with such expansion, the business would only benefit from the move.

Scott moved up a year, and John moved up an extra year that meant he was one year below Scott. Scott got into more fights defending his brother, John never complained, and Jeff didn’t find out. Lucy decided that three was too young to start Virgil at school proper, but for mornings now he attended preschool. Gordon continued to grow, but he was still smaller than his brothers had been at his age. Lucy took Gordon to swimming lessons once school started, he proved himself a true water baby.

A new normal had established itself. While Scott, John and Virgil were at school, Lucy took Gordon swimming every morning. Then she picked Virgil up and the three returned home, where Virgil continued to either draw on every scrap of paper he could find or he would play on the piano; and Gordon would sleep until it was time to pick up the oldest two. Returning home, Scott would team up with Virgil and spend time reading with him while John took Gordon and read to him. Lucy was so proud of her oldest two and how they naturally included their younger brothers in almost every activity they did. She had heard how Jeff had tried to get Scott to understand that his brothers could not do the things that he did, and (so far) everything was working out fine.

As Jeff had promised himself, for John’s fifth birthday they bought a telescope. Jeff spent the two weeks beforehand clearing out the attic and creating two rooms, one for John and one for Scott. In Scott’s room he put a table, bookcase and a chair but nothing else – Scott would be free to use this as he wanted. In John’s room went the telescope, a bookcase half full of books on space and an old comfy chair. The old rickety ladder was replaced with a spiral staircase to make a secure entranceway.

The morning that John turned five they went to the diner for breakfast then spent the rest of the time at the mall. Coming home, they had a family party for the afternoon. Scott had bought John a huge packet of star stickers that glowed in the dark, Virgil had picked out a notebook that had a rocket on the front. On behalf of Gordon Lucy had bought a matching diary. Once the sun had set, Jeff and Lucy brought John up into the attic for their gift.

They couldn’t have picked a better gift. From that moment on, John spent every spare second stargazing. Often, he would drag Scott up to show him, and Scott always went willingly, even though he wasn’t really that interested in space. Jeff was inordinately pleased that John had a shared interest with him. In fact, it seemed his two eldest were following in his footsteps already – Scott with flying and John with space.

Come December, the snow was thick on the ground and again the eldest three went sledging on the hill behind their small farm with Jeff overseeing and Lucy once again making hot chocolate. Gordon did not seem to like the snow much, not wanting to go out and play with his brothers. Scott had offered but Lucy had been firm in declining – 10 months was not old enough to ride a sledge, especially with her speed-freak of a son! Scott had pouted for all of two minutes before realising he was free to go as fast as he wanted. At least this year there would be no surprises when the exhilarated boys returned home for hot chocolate.

Christmas was a riotous affair. Grant and Ruth joined the family, as did Lucy’s parents Chris and Elizabeth. The three eldest had temporarily moved into Scott’s room so that their grandparents could stay at the farmhouse, while Gordon had been moved back into his parent’s room. There was way too much food, way too much noise and way too much mess! Paper was everywhere, Virgil was still non-stop drawing over every scrap – including the stray bits of wrapping paper he found.

Presents were abundant. Scott was given several model aeroplanes and books about flying, which he took up to his attic room. John received more books on space and astronomy and a ticket to hear a talk being given by Jeff’s fellow astronauts about their mission to Mars. He was thrilled. Virgil got a huge amount of paper, colouring pencils and, for the first time, paints. His parents had started to realise how important drawing was to him. He still played the piano every day, but drawing was rapidly becoming an obsession. Gordon was given his very own paddling pool, with Jeff’s assurance that, once Gordon was old enough, they would build a permanent one out the back. Jeff bought Lucy a diamond and sapphire locket and matching bracelet. Lucy got Jeff a key.

Jeff looked at the key in puzzlement. It was a normal door key. He turned to Lucy with a question on his lips, but he didn’t get the chance to ask – Scott beat him to it. ‘Look! Daddy’s got a key! What’s it for, Daddy?’ he asked, parking himself in front of Jeff and hugging his knees. Jeff leant forward and ruffled his hair. ‘I don’t know, son. Why don’t you ask your mother?’ Scott swivelled around and looked at Lucy, an identical quizzical look on his face as Jeff’s had. She laughed.

Getting up and giving Gordon to her mum, Lucy went to the drawer in the old dresser and pulled out a small parcel. Returning, she gave it to Jeff as she sat on the sofa next to Ruth and Grant. Carefully Jeff opened the parcel to find inside paperwork and photos. Sorting through them, briefly scanning through them. Reaching the end his head shot up, an incredulous look on his face. ‘Lucy?’ he asked. ‘Really?’ She nodded. He jumped up and kissed her. This all proved too much for Scott. Getting to his feet, hands on hips, he demanded ‘what is it, Daddy?’

All the adults started laughing at this, which did not improve Scott’s mood at all. As John and Virgil joined in, Scott’s eyes began to flash. He did not like being laughed at – even worse when it was his family! He folded his arms across his chest, trying hard not to lose his temper. Fortunately, Jeff noticed the signs and fished out two pictures from the paperwork, holding them out to Scott. ‘Tell everyone what they show, Scott’ his dad asked. ‘It’s a house in the snow.’ Lucy and Jeff both smiled at such a simplistic answer, although he was right. It was a house in the snow.

‘Mommy’s bought Daddy a house in Colorado,’ Jeff explained. ‘So, when we have another winter holiday, we have a house to live in and go skiing.’ This got the attention of both adults and children alike. Lucy had indeed bought a lodge for winter breaks. She had recalled how Jeff had told her of the time he had spent working in a ski resort for winter break during his years away at college and how much he had enjoyed it. She had saved for the last couple of years, and Grant had happily helped out, to buy a holiday home that could fit the whole extended family in. There were whoops all round.

With Gordon’s first birthday coming up, Lucy and Jeff decided a water-themed party would be best. Scott had taken to calling his youngest brother Fishie because he seemed only to be happy when water was involved. John and Virgil had not been too far behind in using the nickname, and Gordon responded to it as if it was his name. His parents weren’t sure whether they were happy at that or not.

Jeff had the pool set up in the back, there were coloured lights everywhere and the kitchen table fairly groaned with food. Along with Lucy, his boys and his parents, his best friends Lee Taylor and Tim Casey had made it too. Tim and his wife Val were Godparents to all the boys, but it was the first time they had managed to wrangle a visit where both could attend. They were both still in the Forces, having signed up when Jeff did. Jeff might have moved on to NASA, but Tim and Val were both military through and through. John was delighted that Uncle Lee was coming, he would pester him to tell them stories of his dad and him in space.

The party was a great success. Scott and Virgil were enchanted by tales of flying fast jets from Tim and Val, John was ensconced with Lee discussing qualifications for NASA and Gordon had been distracted by Disney’s original Finding Nemo, which had been Scott’s present. All too soon it was time for the boys to go to bed, with godparents giving the bedtime stories tonight. After, the five adults stayed up to talk, after all – they had 7 years to catch up on!

The doctor had been quite firm that Lucy needed rest from childbearing. A good rest. Jeff and Lucy were fine with that – 4 boys under the age of 6 was plenty for now. They threw themselves into just enjoying their children growing up.

Scott got his wish for flying lessons for his seventh birthday. Jeff had obtained a special licence to take such a young person up, since the official age for a student pilot’s licence was 14, but Jeff had such experience and connections that exceptions were made. Scott would not be allowed to touch the controls until he was 12 and could recite the manual without looking – they were his dad’s rules and Scott intended to keep them. They had looked it up together – due to his experience and flying hours, and special compensation because of Jeff – he would qualify for a private pilot licence at 16 rather than the usual 17. 

John started asking to go to space camp and NASA summer school. Lucy and Jeff looked at each other. NASA summer camp had a starting age of 7 and John was only 5½, but Jeff was hopeful that he could persuade them to take John for the summer next year when he was 6. He also knew that NASA did intensive one-day training for 14+ to experience some of the training astronauts go through, and Jeff was wondering at what age John would be ready for that.

The next year past pretty much smoothly without many incidents. Scott spent his free time learning everything he could about aircraft and piloting. He broke his right leg learning to ski during the winter break. John often had to be prised away from his telescope late at night. He managed to break his arm riding his bike. Virgil’s music and art continued to improve, and at only four years old he could paint brilliantly without making a mess. He ended up in hospital with suspected appendicitis for a week before the doctors decided not to do anything after it calmed down. 

Gordon’s Fishie status was cemented by his constant swimming in the pool Jeff had installed just after Scott’s eighth birthday. His water baby was good, but Jeff had made sure all four boys had some pool safety training. The tutor had been sceptical that such young children could learn, but his very bright boys soon proved him wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post natal depression is a difficult condition to deal with. This episode in Lucy's life is based on a real experience of a friend who gave their approval to use in this chapter.


	4. Alan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and his youngest brother

The start of the summer vacation gave the family a new surprise. Late June found Lucy preparing a huge BBQ as a surprise for the family. Grant and Ruth had come down for the weekend, and Grant had whisked Jeff and the boys out early to spend the day in Wichita.  


By the time they had arrived home all the boys had fallen asleep at some point in the truck, and it was getting late. They turned into the drive to see coloured lights strung up and light music playing. Everyone was awake now and wondering what was going on. Following the trail of arrows so helpfully pointing the way, they arrived around the back to a party.

Dumbfounded, they all stood like startled rabbits in headlights, trying to work out what was going on. The small crowd put them out of their misery by shouting and unfurling a banner. ‘Happy Anniversary!’ It was Grant and Ruth’s 30th anniversary in a couple of weeks, and this was the only day Lucy had been able to gather almost everyone together to celebrate. She had kept Ruth in the loop as she knew she wouldn’t have been able to keep anything from her mother-in-law, but seeing the shock, and then delight, on Grant and Jeff’s faces was worth all the effort. Her in-laws did so much for their family, she was delighted to be able to do something in return.

There was singing and dancing and a lot of eating right into the late evening before someone shouted for speeches. By this time Gordon and Virgil had fallen asleep, but they were woken up by the shouting. Grant gave a short speech about the wonder of having such an amazing family, and how much he appreciated them all. Jeff gave an even shorter speech about how thankful he was that his parents had supported his dreams of space. Others gave little sketches of life with the Tracy family.

By midnight the boys had been put to bed and the guests had left. The four Tracy’s, along with Tim and Val, were sitting around the dying fire. Lucy was happily exhausted. She had been planning this for almost a year. And now there was one more speech to make – her own. She passed Grant, Jeff, Tim and Val bottles of beer, while she and Ruth had soda; and stood up, waiting for the quiet chatting to die down.

Turning to the happy couple, she said, ‘Mum, Dad, I can’t thank you enough for how you took me in and have helped me these last 9 years. You made me a part of this family, welcoming me as a daughter, and I will never forget it.’ Lucy paused, watching both turning red, before continuing: ‘I have one special announcement to make today.’ Reaching back, she grabbed Jeff’s hand and pulled him up beside her. ‘I found out this morning that you are going to be grandparents again.’

There was a beat of silence before the five remaining adults erupted in shouts of congratulations. They were loud enough to wake the two eldest boys up, and Scott shouted down from the window to ask what the noise was all about. Kissing his wife, Jeff made his way through the house and upstairs, returning with both oldest boys. When Lucy told Scott and John, they were just as excited as the adults had been. Talking nineteen to the dozen, soon everyone was chatting away, forgetting the time and drinking too much.

It was a highly amused Ruth and Lucy that got up late the next morning to find Scott and John asleep on the outdoor couch, with Jeff, Grant, Tim and Val in various uncomfortable-looking positions around the veranda and all snoring their heads off. It didn’t take long for Gordon to wake them all up, with the four adults groaning and looking awful. Shooing Gordon into the pool with Virgil and Ruth looking out for them, Lucy insisted the four remaining adult go wash up and get ready for breakfast.

Tim and Val had to be away back to barracks that evening, but they stayed for a hearty breakfast that seemed almost as full a spread as dinner the night before had been. Val especially marvelled at how much food all her godsons could put away, particularly Scott. That boy seemed to eat his weight at every meal, and more as well! Ruth had laughed when Val had pointed that out, saying that all Tracy boys had fast metabolisms and always had had. Scott had been unsure whether they were making fun of him or not; he paused in his eating while trying to puzzle out if this was a bad thing or not, before deciding that he didn’t care – he was hungry!

After breakfast the Casey’s left, with promises of trying to attend Jeff and Lucy’s 10th anniversary next year. In turn, Jeff promised that they would attend the Casey’s 10th the year after, all being well. After the couple had departed, Lucy took the time to tell Virgil and Gordon the news. Virgil was reasonably happy at the idea of a new brother, but Gordon did not seem impressed. Ruth put it down to his age, after all his was only two. Jeff hoped that the excitement of his big brothers would rub off onto him.

In preparation for the latest addition, bedrooms were moved around. The attic room was refurbished and given to John as a bedroom, with the proviso that he did not spend all night stargazing. Scott was given their bedroom to himself. Virgil and Gordon each had their own room too, even though Gordon’s, being the old nursery, was not very big. The upstairs study was converted into a nursery. 

There had been some discussion as to what colour the baby might like. Every nursery had been either green or blue, but Lucy felt like a change. It was John who suggested red. They had watched a movie where there was a red rocket and John had loved the idea of a rocket in that colour. Scott and Virgil agreed that it would be unusual. So, the nursery was painted cream and decorated with red cars and red rockets. Ruth stitched a beautiful quilt with the same decorations on. 

Lucy didn’t have as many problems this time round, but she was still anaemic and suffered severe morning sickness. Jeff hired a companion to help Lucy around the house and with the cooking. The daughter from the farm next door, 16-year-old Hazel Andrews, was in her element. She dreamed of being a children’s nurse; and hoped that this job would go some way towards the experience universities liked students to have.

The boys adored her, especially Gordon. Hazel’s presence meant he could swim more often. Scott and John loved her because she kept the Fish busy while they completed their homework. Both had a lot of homework between normal classes, extra classes and after-school clubs. Jeff willingly paid for Hazel to attend a paediatric first aid course; and was surprised when Virgil asked if he could attend too. The teacher of the course was fine with his attendance – it would make the class more interesting to have a five-year-old there, and he could serve as a visual aid. Virgil was enamoured the entire time, announcing when they got home that he was going to be a doctor.

And so it was, on a rainy day in mid-March that the fifth and final Tracy boy made his entrance into the world. It was the second easiest birth, John’s being the first, and Lucy was in labour for a mere 75 minutes. Alan Shepard Tracy had a fine head of ash blonde hair like John, and a set of lungs that could rival Gordon. He was almost the exact weight Scott had been. Jeff had only just managed to get there before the birth, it was that quick.

The elder boys knew that Alan’s birth was any day now, so when Hazel picked them up from school alone, they were fairly sure they knew the reason. Hazel took them home and tried her hardest to get them settled into doing their homework, but they were too excited. 

Ruth appeared around 5pm to collect the boys and take them to the hospital. Alan was introduced to his four older brothers, to promises of love and care and protection. Lucy and Jeff exchanged glances. 

Their family was now complete.

Scott’s first thought on seeing baby Alan at the hospital was one of such complete love that it took his breath away. Sure, he’d felt this for every one of his brothers, but there was something special about Alan. Maybe it was because Alan was to be the last baby brother he would have, but the drive to protect and love and help seemed almost overwhelming to the almost nine-year-old. He promised Alan in that crib that he would always be there for him. 

As with all their children, Alan seemed to be enamoured with his oldest brother, and Scott returned the feeling. Lucy was amused to find that both herself and Hazel were often beaten to Alan when Scott was home. He tried to do everything – changing, bathing, feeding the baby – and this time no-one tried to stop him. 

It had hurt Lucy deeply when she had realised just how much Scott had withdrawn from Gordon; and she was inordinately grateful that John had filled the void. It had been somewhat of a surprise – her quietest son taking on her loudest – but they seemed to work very well together. John often supervised Gordon in the pool while completing any homework he had left, and Gordon in turn listened as John taught him about the nature around them. Scott still made time for Gordon, but it was never alone. Rather, Scott’s relationship with Virgil was stronger than ever, and now he seemed to have zoned in on Alan, much to Virgil’s amusement. Virgil wanted nothing to do with ‘baby care’, as he called it, and neither did John for that matter. Gordon was too young, but even if he had been older, he just couldn’t be trusted.

At three years old Gordon’s personality was starting to show through. He was an extremely sunny child, very hyperactive and impulsive. Already he seemed to take delight in fooling his older brothers. Jeff and Lucy had learnt the hard way that he already was getting his brothers into trouble for things he had done. Gordon was not malicious intentionally, but he did seem to have a streak of mayhem about him. He was still very much a fish.

Virgil, now five and a half, was in school full time. He was thriving, having two older brothers who had shared everything they had learnt. Consequently, his teachers had discussed moving him forward a year as his brothers had been. But both Lucy and Jeff had disagreed because he was already the youngest person in the class, and he did not have the academic drive of either Scott or John. Virgil was perfectly happy to remain as he was – for now.

Seven years and five months’ old John – Math was very important to John and he needed it to be correct – was settling into a groove at school. Since he had turned seven and explained to his parents and Scott that he was perfectly happy and had no real need for others in his life at the moment, John had become happier and more confident. Scott’s fighting reduced dramatically as John’s new attitude at school seemed to make him less of a target. He began taking computer programming classes alongside Scott as well as his extra Math and Science ones.

Scott, nearing double digits in age, still put most of his free time into anything around flying. But he shared computing as an interest with John, and he was beginning to enjoy his sports more often. Juggling the baseball team with a new-found love of running, he had something going on after school almost every day. But he always made time for his brothers once he was home. And weekends were shared equally between everyone’s interests. Swimming before breakfast, bike rides, hiking, picnics – they did everything.

Alan was showing every sign of being as early a developer as all his brothers, and he showed a passion for speed and flying just like his biggest brother. As soon as he could crawl he was into everything, and Lucy was hard-pressed to keep up with him. Unlike Gordon, though, Alan hated water. Scott was the only one who could get him bathed, and even then he cried. Anyone else tried and it sounded like Alan was being murdered. No one could work out where that particular problem had come from. 

Life was still good. 

As Alan grew, so did his love of planes, rockets and cars. For his first birthday he had a rocket-themed party. He was also showing a deep interest in space, if Lucy needed Alan to sit still then she got John to read to him from his astronomy books. It always worked. 

Scott was due to move schools this year coming, and both Jeff and Lucy were concerned the effect this might have on John, but John was adamant he would be fine – it was only a year before he could join Scott – and Virgil had piped up to say he would be there to protect him. This caused Scott to laugh and John to scowl. He didn’t need a younger brother to fight his battles.

For Scott’s 10th birthday he was given a new bike, one that was more streamlined and aerodynamic – according to Scott – and they had got a custom paint job so that it was his favourite shade of blue. This was not his only present, but he particularly liked it because he could give his bike to Gordon. This had surprised his parents as they had assumed he would give it to Virgil, but Scott was certain he wanted Gordon to have it for when he was big enough. 

Scott was often now out at weekends on his bike with either John or Virgil. Gordon was still too young to go out riding with the older ones, and he was quite content to ride his little bike around the farm. Scott had found one of his old scooters and had cleaned it up for Alan, and it amused everyone greatly to see 18-month-old Alan, who was only just walking, attempt to copy his brothers and scoot around the place. 

The next two years passed in a beautiful blur of school and family life. Scott moved to the middle school, and after much discussion John moved up a second year into Scott’s class. Virgil started art lessons after school. Gordon went to school (and hated it). He started swim classes outside of school when he was six. Alan showed that he was no different than Scott, jumping off anything he could climb onto. Their boys were still very close-knit, even if Scott and Virgil had their own friends too. Hazel left for university after Scott’s eleventh birthday.

For Scott’s twelfth Jeff kept his promise and took Scott flying. It was the most exhilarating thing he had ever done. And Jeff was impressed. The boy was a natural, having spent the last four years or so learning everything he could. Jeff may as well have not been present. Scott couldn’t wait to take his brothers up, but Jeff said that would have to wait until they were a little older. John and Gordon had no interest in planes, but Virgil and Alan had been almost as keen as Scott was.

Alan ‘chose’ Virgil’s nineth birthday to get sick. Very sick. At first they thought the three-and-a-half-year-old had overindulged, for he was vomiting and pale. It was Scott who became concerned first. Alan’s temperature was refusing to lower, despite the cold compresses and lack of clothing, and Alan was complaining of pain in his head and wanting to sleep. Scott had just covered common childhood ailments in school and was insistent they take Alan to the hospital. While Jeff thought that might be an overreaction to a viral infection, by the time he had turned around to discuss it with Scott the almost-teen had got Alan ready and called an ambulance.

They were so thankful that Scott had.

Alan stayed almost two weeks in the hospital with meningitis. He suffered additional complications and for three of the longest days of their lives Alan was in a medically induced coma. The word amputation was discussed. But like a Tracy, the kid fought it and came out better. 

The next three months were a nightmare. Alan went from a happy and engaging child to a clingy tired child who cried a lot. Scott was not faring any better, trying to insist he stay home rather than return to school as Alan’s need was greater. Jeff spoke to the school counsellor who suggested Scott stay home for only a couple of days and then return to school. There was obviously some residual anxiety that needed to be addressed, and she also put Jeff’s mind at rest about Alan, explaining that such behaviours after meningitis were very common and nothing to worry about, he would grow out of them. By the time John’s birthday had come around everything was back to normal, mostly. Alan was still tiring out a little easier.

They had alternated summer holidays between Florida and England, but that year they stayed home. Because of this, they decided to make an extra special winter holiday at the chalet. Scott and John were competent skiers now, and Scott was looking to learn snowboarding. Virgil was certainly good, if not as good as his older brothers, and Gordon was, well, Gordon. He was all over the place, but he could ski if he put his mind to it. His mind seldom made it that far. Alan, at nearly five, was better than Gordon but not strong enough to go further than the nursery slopes.

Just before Alan’s fourth birthday Jeff announced that they would be going to the chalet for three weeks instead of two. The extra week was an early present – part of Scott’s thirteenth birthday celebrations now that his eldest was about to become a teenager. Jeff had booked an instructor for his eldest three to learn snowboarding properly, since Scott had taken such an interest last year.

The boys were excited that Grandpa and Grandma were coming this year; they had missed the last two due to Grandpa’s heart problems. Lucy’s parents had come last year and had said that would be their last. Both had health issues and felt that the travelling was getting beyond them now.

It was a joyous family group that travelled in two cars to their chalet.


End file.
